2026 Qatar Moto2 - Race Results

The Qatar Moto2 race saw Daniel Holgado return to winning ways for the first race since the second round in Brazil saw him grace the top step of the podium, pulling away after taking the lead, at a hot and sticky Lusail.

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After a record lap on Saturday, Alex Escrig launched from Moto2 pole for the first time. The Klint Forward Racing rider lost out briefly to Holgado then pulled away, to be the long term leader out front, under the floodlights.

Lap fourteen saw Holgado pull into the lead by turn one, and from there, the Aspar rider increased his advantage to take back to back podiums with a win, by a final margin of 2.265s.

Behind, from 13th on the grid after coming through Q1 on Saturday, with a series of turn one overtakes, Ivan Ortola had moved into third, and had one pass left in him - going around Escrig to pull side by side and then pass in the run to the line, bringing the QJMotor bike home in second for a Kalex 1-2 in the race.

That left Escrig third for just his second podium finish in the class, the first coming at Silverstone earlier in the year, missing out on second by just two tenths of a second.

David Alonso at one point was battling with his team-mate Holgado for the podium places, but the Malaysian race winner faded back to a lonely fourth for Aspar.

Daniel Munoz was on fire over the closing laps, third early on the Spaniard faded, but launched a comeback to hunt down and pass Manuel Gonzalez to snatch a late fifth for Italtrans.

There was a huge list of penalties handed out in Moto2 after Q2 saw a huge group exit in front of Munoz, while on a live flying lap.

Of the eight riders receiving a six place grid penalty, Gonzalez recovered best (with Barry Baltus, Izan Guevara, Ayumu Sasaki, Senna Agius, Zonta van den Goorbergh, Xabi Zurutuza and Adrian Huertas all also penalised).

Moved back to fifth on the grid the championship leader was as high as third before losing out to Alonso, Ortola and finally Munoz, finishing sixth, with Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP team-mate Senna Agius closing in over the final lap.

Gonzalez was handed a gift in the title hunt, when Guevara, who had already dropped to 10th, suffered a technical issue with five laps to go, pulling into the pits.

Agius was a close seventh, bringing with him rookie Jose Antonio Rueda, who equalled his best finish in his first Moto2 season in eighth for Red Bull KTM Ajo, and Filip Salac, who was ninth for American Racing.

Celestino Vietti had survived his early contact with Collin Veijer, taking the Netherlands rider out of the race at turn one on the first lap, as the duo launched from third and fourth on the grid, and was moving in the right direction, having passed Guevara, on his way to a top ten finish for SpeedRS, the top Boscoscuro in a tough race for the manufacturer.

Alonso Lopez was a distant 11th for Italjet Gresini, holding his own gap over 12th placed Huertas on the second Italtrans bike.

The remaining points finishers were also spaced out in the run to the chequered flag, with Joe Roberts 13th for American Racing, Sasaki 14th for Momoven Idrofoglia RW Racing and Barry Baltus 15th for the Fantic team.

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

Deniz Oncu dropped to 21st after a late track limits penalty for Marc VDS.

Crashes, injuries and replacements

Matteo Ferrari completed another round as replacement for Sergio Garcia at Italjet Gresini in 23rd.

Taiyo Furusato and van den Goorbergh both crashed out of the race, joining Veijer and Guevara as non-finishers.

2025 Qatar race winner Aron Canet was not replaced by Marc VDS for the Qatar round.

Championship Standings

Gonzalez moves onto 286.5 points, with a title chance on the cards in Portugal after an unfortunate technical DNF left Guevara stuck on 273 points , taking the gap out from 3.5 to 13.5 points.

Ortola is third overall on 219.5 points, in a close run for the remaining overall positions, with Holgado moving back to fourth with a win, on 215 points, moving ahead of team-mate Alonso who has 204 points.

An equal best finish saw Rueda pull a bigger advantage in the rookie standings, now on 56 points, with his nearest rival Luca Lunetta staying on 27 points after placing outside the top fifteen in the race.

Full Moto2 race results can be found below.

Moto2 Race Results: