2026 Japanese Moto2 - Practice Results

The Moto2 lap record had already been lowered on the opening day at Motegi, with David Alonso leading the riders moving directly to Q2, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

• MotoGP Japan LIVE: Build up to Practice after Marc Marquez leads FP1

David Alonso produced record pace on Friday to move directly to Q2 with the best time on Friday, with a new lap record.

The Aspar rider chipped away at his time, going from sixth to third, then making the leap to the top of the standings, with a new record lap of 1’ 47.508s - beating Manuel Gonzalez new best from FP1.

The Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider was also quick in the second session, with the championship leader finishing just 0.033s slower at a traxk where he secured pole last season.

Izan Guevara shook of his gremlins from the morning session to again be the top Boscoscuro behind the Kalex pair, now in an improved third for Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha after leading the way for much of the session.

Tony Arbolino was the best of the riders who crashed in the session, as all classes seemed to struggle for grip at a resurfaced Motegi, in fourth for REDS Fantic Racing, just quicker than 2025 race winner in Japan, Daniel Holgado, who was fifth on the second Aspar bike.

Filip Salac, fresh from pole and a podium in Austria, was sixth for American Racing , ahead of Italtrans rider Adrian Huertas, who had secured seventh before a collision between himself and home rider Taiyo Furusato brought out yellow flags at the end of the session.

Alonso Lopez was eight for Gresini, ahead of the best of the Japanese riders at home, Ayumu Sasaki, who placed ninth for Momoven Idrofoglia RW Racing.

Senna Agius completed the top ten fastest riders on the second Dynavolt bike.

Ivan Ortola was 11th for QJMotor ahead of early faller Deniz Oncu, who recovered his session with 12th on his return to track for Elf Marc VDS.

Rookie Jose Antonio Eueda had dropped to 26th when his late effort saw him push into the automatic Q2 places, in 13th for Red Bull KTM Ajo.

The final spot went to Daniel Munoz for Italtrans, with Zonta van den Goorbergh just missing out.

Moto2 sees two changes to the entry for Japan, with Unai Orradre making a return to fill on for the absent Angel Piqueras at QJMotor, almost amking it through after spending much of Practice inside the top 14 on his way to a final 17th.

The replacement rider was one place ahead of Barry Baltus, who put in a heavy amount of laps, perhaps pushing too hard on board his Fantic bike.

Collin Veijer is also out of action, with Red Bull KTM Ajo opting to bring in Milan Pawelec (27th) , just days after the Polish rider picked up his second Moto2 European Championship title.

Alberto Ferranadez is also out of action following his huge Austrian crash, but is not replaced by Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha.

There were two further crashes in the session, for Celestino Vietti and Mario Aji.

Moto2 Practice times:

Official Japanese Moto2 Records:
Fastest race lap: Daniel Holgado (2025) 1’ 48.739s
Best Pole: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1’ 47.925s
All-time lap record: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1’ 47.925s
New all-time lap record: David Alonso (2026, Practice) 1’ 47.508s

Free Practice 1

Gonzalez left it late to go top, with what was then a new lap record (1’ 47.551s) at the end of the session, beating his own previous best, behind Arbolino.

That deposed Salac from the top of the timesheets with the rest of the early top five featuring Alonso, Holgado and Arbolino.

Guevara was the top Boscoscuro in sixth having only completed nine laps with an issue, with Escrig the highest placed Forward bike in 22nd.

A fairly quiet session was interrupted by a flurry of crashes, with van den Goorbergh, Munoz and Canet all off in quick succession, with Ortola also off in FP1.

FP1 times can be found below.

Moto2 FP1 times: