2026 Qatar Moto2 - Qualifying Results

Qualifying for the Moto2 Qatar Grand Prix saw Alex Escrig on record pace to claim his first ever pole position in Moto2 at Lusail.

• Qatar MotoGP LIVE: Qualifying and sprint updates from Lusail

Earlier in the day, Escrig had cut a frustrated figure in FP2, searching for more from his Klint Forward Racing bike.

Now under the floodlights, everything went perfectly for the Spaniard, who smashed his own best from earlier in the session, already under the old record, with a huge final sector performance to set a new best of Lusail - a 1’ 55.241s lap.

Championship rivals Manuel Gonzalez and Izan Guevara have been inseparable all weekend, with Guevara ahead on Friday, and Gonzalez topping the earlier FP2 session

The Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider, who was on pole in Qatar last season, was behind after the first runs, down in ninth after finding Barry Baltus on track, with the incident received by Race Direction, as Guevara went second.

On pit exit for their final flying laps, Gonzalez glued himself to his fellow countryman on his Kalex, following around behind for a lap, as the duo met Xabi Zurutuza on track.

The Forward rider, having a much improved weekend, was on his own fast lap, and split the duo, tripping up Guevara - who was unable to improve for Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha, dropping from sixth to seventh as the chequered flag flew.

Gonzalez escaped, bringing around his Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP machine second to Escrig, catching up to 0.126s behind and taking advantage on the grid in the close title race, with just 3.5 points separating the duo.

Daniel Holgado was fastest on Friday, building on the one lap pace that took him to pole last time out, in Malaysia. This time the Aspar rider was third, ahead of early session leader Celestino Vietti, who was fourth for SpeedRS and top the Boscoscuro rider in Q2.

Collin Veijer was fifth for Red Bull KTM Ajo, just ahead of Senna Agius in sixth in a close session on the second Dynavolt entry, with Guevara seventh, the first rider over half a second from the new record lap.

Jose Antonio Rueda was the top rookie in qualifying for Red Bull KTM Ajo in eighth, Adrian Huertas the best of the Italtrans riders in ninth, with Filip Salac completing the top ten for American Racing.

Malaysia race winner David Alonso was 12th on the second Aspar bike.

Daniel Munoz went for a solo run, but hit pit lane as the rest of the field peeled out slowly in front of him, ruining his best run, and leaving the Italtrans rider 13th. Munoz was still the best of the riders to move up from Q1.

Zurutuza went on to qualify in 16th.

Official Qatar Moto2 Records:
Fastest race lap: Sam Lowes (2023) 1’ 57.360s
Best Pole: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1’ 56.301s
Old all-time lap record: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1’ 56.301s
New all-time lap record: Alex Escrig (2026, Q2) 1’ 55.241s

Q1 - Daniel Munoz leads Q2 charge as Furusato shuffled out.

The first qualifying session for Moto2 had a similar feel to the Moto3 one which preceded it, with long term leader Taiyo Furusato shuffled out of the progression places right at the end of Q1, leaving the Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rookie fifth, for 19th on the grid.

Munoz had been sat sixth before making his final lap count, topping the session, taking over from Zonta van den Goorbergh (15th in Q2) who had taken over at the top moments earlier for Momoven Idrofoglia RW Racing, who progressed in second.

His team-mate Ayumu Sasaki (18th in Q2) and QJMotor’s Ivan Ortola (14th in Q2) completed the top four.

Joining Furusato in just missing out, Joe Roberts started his final run with red sectors, but the lap faded away, leaving the American Racing rider sixth, for 20th on the grid.

Matteo Ferrari (27th) continues in place of Sergio Garcia at Itajet Gresini in Qatar. 2025 race winner at Qatar, Aron Canet, was not replaced by Marc VDS.

Full qualifying results can be found below.

Moto2 Qualifying Results: