Moto2 returned to the track this weekend for the French Grand Prix at the Bugatti Circuit. Despite winning the last two races, Senna Agius’ teammate Manuel González came into the weekend leading the championship. With the weather worsening over the weekend, Izan Guevara took his maiden pole position and his second Moto2 victory.
Guevara Untouchable Throughout Practice
Friday’s FP1 kicked the weekend off under clear skies, and riders were quick to get some dry running. Barry Baltus initially set the benchmark time, but he was quickly replaced by Manuel González. The Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider finished the session first with a time of 1:34.740.
In the timed practice session, a time of 1:34.348 saw Izan Guevara lay the benchmark ahead of Baltus and González. Setting the fastest time of the session in the opening minutes, he remained untouched throughout. After crashing in the morning session, Filip Salač was able to recover and advanced to Q2.
The times were close as the chequered flag fell. Five tenths behind Guevara, Sergio García was the last rider to advance. In contrast, Daniel Muñoz was the first to miss out, just 0.036 seconds behind in P15.
Despite early weather reports suggesting some rain on Saturday, riders went out for FP2 under clear skies. Baltus set the pace and had an early lead over the field. Initially, Guevara was unable to replicate his pace from the day before. Unable to challenge Baltus, for the majority of the session he was just ahead of championship leader González in P2. However, in the final minute, Guevara found his pace to go P1 by three tenths.
A New Lap Record in Qualifying
Q1 began with Race Control handing Muñoz a three-place grid penalty for riding slow on the line. But he wasn’t letting that stop him, settling at the top of the grid as the laps started to come in. After not having pace throughout the practice sessions, Alonso was able to better Muñoz’s time. By the end of the session, #17 was back on top, leading the four advancers.
Also finding pace was the reigning Moto3 champion, José Antonio Rueda. After finding himself at the rear of the grid at most races, as the first runs ended, the champion was in the fourth advancing spot, just behind Deniz Öncü. Both Joe Roberts and Tony Arbolino were able to improve, joining Muñoz and Alonso in the next session. Despite that, Rueda was able to gain time on Öncü and, consequently, faced his best Moto2 starting position: P19.
It wasn’t long before Q2 was starting, and Guevara immediately went to provisional pole. After setting a new lap record in FP2 earlier in the day, the Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2 rider went even faster. 1:33.910 saw him produce another all-time lap record and the top spot. As riders tried, only one could get close. Daniel Holgado was the only other to get into the 1:33s, 0.086 seconds behind the polesitter.
Baltus joined the front row, going to P3. Initially, Q1 advancers Roberts and Alonso were leading the second row of the grid, but by the end of the session, both were relegated to P6 and P7, respectively. With two minutes to go, Baltus brought out the yellow flag after crashing in Turn 6. Now out of qualifying, Baltus was unable to protect his P3 starting place.
Despite the yellow, two riders were able to have one final chance just before the flag fell. Setting red sectors throughout the lap, Salač stormed through the leaderboard to start on the front row. González also improved, setting the same time as Baltus. As the #7 posted it first, he’ll line up fourth, with the championship leader fifth.
A Red Flagged Race
Rain fell the morning of the race. However, the Moto3 action helped dry the track. Moto2 riders faced a shortened 14-lap wet race on a drying track and, consequently, opted to run slick tyres. The lights went out, and Guevara got the perfect start. So did González, who was quickly up to second and chasing the lead.
Green racing didn’t last long. Holgado crashed coming out of Turn 8, bringing out a local yellow in Sector 2. He was unharmed, and the field quickly went green again. Now back to racing, Salač was able to overtake the championship leader to inherit P2. But there was no battle, as another local yellow in Sector 4 was brought out.
Jorge Navarro was the cause of this, crashing out of the final turn and onto the main straight. Marshals were on track attempting to recover the stranded bike. With safety in mind, Race Control red-flagged the race to allow the bike to be recovered. The neutralised race saw the riders head back to the pits.
The Race: Round Two
As fewer than three laps were completed, Race Control declared an official complete restart. Reducing the laps to nine, everyone would start from their original grid positions. Despite crashing on the initial start, Holgado was able to rejoin for the second try. Once again, Guevara got a great start. As did Alonso López, who fought from eighth to second.
Again, the race saw a yellow on the opening lap. This time, Celestino Vietti collected Baltus, causing the #7 to crash in Turn 6. Race Control investigated the incident and awarded Vietti with a long lap penalty for causing a collision. A lap later and another collision occurred, this time between Muñoz and Collin Veijer.
Both González and Iván Ortolá were able to overtake López for podium places. Intially, Ortolá was challenging for P2, but eventually the championship leader broke free and started to hunt down Guevara. However, whenever the championship leader closed in, Guevara responded to strengthen the gap again.
Further down the field, a risky move from Alonso on his CFMoto Aspar Team teammate saw Holgado concede positions, falling down the order to P10. Arón Canet was able to overtake him, securing his best finish this year. Holgado, however, was disqualified after the race for riding without a front fender.
Also retiring from the race was Ayuma Sasaki, who crashed in the final corner on Lap 4. Rookie Taiyo Furusato was also handed a long lap penalty for shortcutting at Turn 4. This saw him drop down the grid, finishing P23. Ultimately, Guevara converted his pole to secure his second Moto2 victory.
Moto2 at the French GP
The Moto2 French Grand Prix was a race that was shortened twice, declared wet and then dry, and saw a red flag. Plenty of action kept the grid on their toes, providing another thrilling race. The Top Ten were as follows:
- Izan Guevara (Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2)
- Manuel González (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP)
- Iván Ortolá (QJMotor – MSi)
- Alonso López (ITALJET Gresini Moto2)
- David Alonso (CFMoto Aspar Team)
- Celestino Vietti (SpeedRS Team)
- Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP)
- Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team)
- Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team)
- Arón Canet (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
With Guevara taking his first win of 2026, that saw him overtake Agius in the championship standings. He now sits second, just 9.5 points adrift of González. There’s no rest for the young riders, though, as they head straight back to Spain. Next up, they travel to Catalunya and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Can González return to the top step in front of a home crowd, or can Guevara challenge him for the championship lead?