2025 Japanese Moto2 - Race Results

Moto2 got a dry race after an earlier downpour, and was won by an early push form Daniel Holgado, the clear victor at round seventeen, the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Aspar rookies had completed the front row on the grid with Holgado qualifying second, the frantic final few corners survived, the Spanish rider came out on top aboard the Kalex, taking over from Diogo Moreira at the start of lap two.

Once ahead, the #27 bike set a string of fastest race laps, which made all the difference, handing the Spaniard a comfortable gap.

The advantage only grew thanks to a consistent ability to lap at the front, at over four and a half seconds by lap twelve, with Holgado managing his race and stepping off the gas in the closing stages to cross the line 1.304 seconds clear for a second win in an impressive rookie season, with four out of the last five races resulting in a podium for Holgado.

• 2025 Japanese MotoGP, Motegi - Sprint Race Results
• 2025 Japanese MotoGP, Motegi - Warm-up Results

Behind, Jake Dixon had quickly made up places from sixth on the grid, showing the same pace he had displayed ahead of his qualifying blip. Unable to find a way through, the Elf Marc VDS rider could not find a way around the bikes ahead, but once through on Moreira and Arbolino, the British rider chased hard, contributing to the smaller winning margin on his way to second, the top finishing Boscoscuro rider.

Diogo Moreira had his first lap lead but could not match the pace of Holgado. The Brazilian’s race boiled down to a last lap battle for the final podium spot, which saw him get the better of David Alonso, with the Italtrans rider picking up the final rostrum spot and the Aspar rookie forced to settle for fourth.

At the scene of his first Moto2 win, Manuel Gonzalez started from pole - the  championship leader got a horrible start plummeting backwards through the pack after being forced out wide. That saw the Liqui Moly Intact GP rider battling for eighth with Celestino Vietti.

San Marino winner Vietti was a perfect example of how up and down Moto2 has been for all riders this season, getting a huge start to be looking to lead, only to find Holgado directly in his path, sitting up and also falling back into the pack.

A rash move up the inside on lap four saw Gonzalez take out the unlucky Italian, with Gonzalez handed a long lap penalty for his actions.

In seventh Gonzalez completed his penalty and re-joined ninth, pushing his way back to fifth by the end of the race.

The last position picked up was at the expense of Tony Arbolino, who had held podium form for much of the race before fading. The reason soon became clear for the fall back for the Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2 rider - immediately taking his right glove off - able to go faster after having successful arm pump surgery between rounds, but clearly feeling the effects of recent surgery after 19 laps of Motegi.

The Italian had enough of a gap to hold sixth, with Barry Baltus, a podium finisher last time out, finishing where he started in seventh for Fantic Racing.

There were more Moto2 rookies inside the top ten with Ivan Orola taking eighth for QJMotor - Frinsa - MSI, and Collin Veijer in the top ten for Red Bull KTM Ajo, just behind Gresini’s Albert Arenas.

Alonso Lopez kept his weekend heading in the right direction with eleventh for SpeedRS, just holding off American Racing’s Marcos Ramirez to twelfth and 13th placed Filip Salac for Fantic Racing in a three way battle to the line.

The remaining points on offer went to home rider Ayumu Sasaki for RW Idrofoglia in 14th and Aron Canet, who continued to struggle, picking up 15th late on for Fantic Racing.

Moto2’s second Japanese entry Yuki Kunii was 18th on home soil for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia.

Jorge Navarro and Mario Aji were both handed nine place grid penalties for slow sectors in Q1, sending them to the back of the grid. They placed 19th and 21st respectively.

Crashes, injuries and replacements

Zonta van den Goorbergh was first out of the race along with the only replacement rider for the Japanese round, Daniel Munoz, who also exited on the first lap as he continued in place of the injured Deniz Oncu at Red Bull KTM Ajo.

Senna Agius also failed to go the distance, with a huge crash under the bridge taking out Joe Roberts.

Darryn Binder and Izan Guevara were late fallers.

Championship standings

Gonzalez made sure to limit the damage lead moving on to 238 points, with the gap dropping from 39 to 34 points.

Moreira is now a clear second on 204, with Canet picking up just one point to move to 189.

Sixth overall, Holgado leads the rookie standings on 153, passing Vietti after his DNF. His nearest rival remains teammate Alonso, who has 97 points.