“Class of the field” Moto2 rider tipped to miss out on 2026 MotoGP move

The 2025 Moto2 season has been one of ups and downs for Manuel Gonzalez, but despite two non-scores he leads the championship by three points after seven races, making him a theoretical candidate for a MotoGP graduation in 2026.

However, with uncertainty surrounding Jorge Martin’s future at Aprilia – indeed, the reigning premier class champion has made clear that he intends to leave at the end of 2025 – and the prospect of a switch to MotoGP from World Superbike for Toprak Razgatlioglu, the path upwards for Gonzalez – who crashed out of the latest round of the Moto2 World Championship at Silverstone when trying to recover from a bad start – is not straightforward.

In the past, riders like Fabio Quartararo have hit form at the right time to earn a MotoGP ride despite limited success in the lightweight and intermediate Grand Prix classes. In contrast, for Gonzalez it seems like his dominant form, which has seen him take six poles from the first seven races as well as five podiums (including three wins), has come at an awkward moment.

“He’s the class of the field,” TNT Sports MotoGP expert Neil Hodgson told Crash.net on Friday at the British Grand Prix.

“Probably timing-wise for him, there’s not a lot of opportunities in MotoGP – there’s two or three seats up.

“We’ve got that musical chair conversation going on at the moment: what’s Martin going to do? Is he going to stay at Aprilia? Is Toprak [Razgatlioglu] going to move to MotoGP?

“There’s a bit of a grey area going on, but if he doesn’t move up next year, the way I see him ride he will definitely be on people’s shopping lists for 2027 when the majority of the contracts are up.

“Normally, you’d say that if you get an opportunity you’ve got to go to MotoGP, but he looks that good at the moment that you think maybe just wait another year – if you can win the title this year and defend it, you can have the pick of the rides.”

Hodgson’s fellow TNT Sports MotoGP expert Michael Laverty added that he “doesn’t see how it’s going to happen” for Gonzalez in 2026.

“There’s five seats available: three Hondas, one Yamaha, one Ducati,” Laverty explained.

“You’d say the Ducati, with Morbidelli doing what he’s doing, that’s going to stay as it is; Jack Miller doing what he’s doing, that’s [Yamaha] probably going to stay as it is; I know the Honda’s on the way up, but they’re not going to offer Gonzalez the factory seat I don’t think, so it would be an LCR slot – but they want to keep Zarco [and] Chantra is there for passport.

“I just don’t see how it’s going to happen for Gonzalez, as strong as he is.

“I think he’s got to wait until the next contract cycle and hope that he’s continued his momentum and try and kick that door down.

“His passport will work against him, unfortunately, as good as he is right now.”

Lorenzo-esque style

Gonzalez’ 2025 results have come with a riding style notably different to previous Moto2 champions; whereas riders like Ai Ogura and Pedro Acosta were visibly aggressive in their riding, Gonzalez is much smoother, his inputs and movements decidedly unexaggerated.

For Hodgson, this kind of style is also applicable to the premier class.

“That’s the way he rides,” Hodgson noted, “and you can ride a MotoGP bike the same, that’s how Jorge Lorenzo had an incredible career – just super-relaxed, never upset the bike, never waste any body movement.

“It’s funny because I remember Marc Marquez in Moto2, and I used to remember people saying ‘Wait until he gets on a MotoGP bike, he won’t be able to ride a MotoGP bike like that, he will be flicked over the handlebars.’

“I remember thinking: ‘I think he will be able to ride a MotoGP bike like that,’ because he just seemed like a special talent. Obviously, he won the World Championship in his first year.

“How you ride a bike is how you ride a bike, but Gonzalez’s silky smooth style will work well on any of the bikes; you look at an Aprilia or anything like that, his style would be designed for that.

“I think he seems like a special talent.”