Moto2: Manu Gonzalez and a dream to rebuild — a double mission in 2026

A tough blow to have lost the 2025 Moto2 title, but Gonzalez is determined to bounce back: he wants to be champion and also make it to MotoGP.

The Moto2 World Championship ended with the crowning of Diogo Moreira, who took the title at the expense of Manu Gonzalez. The latter was +60 after the Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno and then suffered a comeback that seemed unlikely. Scoring 0 points across Austria, Indonesia, and Malaysia weighed heavily. The Spaniard had led the standings since his victory at Jerez and lost it after the third-to-last race of the season in Sepang.

In the final GP at Valencia, the Brazilian’s lead was 24 points, so it would have taken a sensational miracle to overturn what looked like a foregone conclusion in the Moto2 title chase. It didn’t happen. In fact, the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider returned to the box 4 laps from the end due to a problem: a terrible way to finish the championship.

In these weeks Gonzalez is getting over the disappointment of how the last season ended and is also recharging his batteries to face the next one. Naturally, he will be the favorite to win the 2026 Moto2 title, but it will be anything but easy. Rivals won’t be lacking, and he’ll have to sweat for the world crown. What happened in the last championship is certainly a useful lesson for the future.

Third in the 2024 world championship, second in 2025, in 2026 the Spaniard wants to complete the climb by taking the gold medal. He will continue with the LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt IntactGP team, and there will be a strong desire for redemption in the garage. In that same garage he should also find one of the main rivals for the 23-year-old from Madrid, namely his teammate Senna Agius, coming off a season with 2 wins and 2 more podiums. Tenth in the final standings, in 2026 the 20-year-old Australian wants to insert himself into the title fight.

Clearly, Gonzalez wants to be crowned Moto2 world champion also to have a better shot at being in MotoGP in 2027. He had some contacts already during 2025, as he told LS2 Europe: "We were very close in the middle of the season. We were talking with Honda and Yamaha, which were the only available seats. And the truth is that both wanted me, but the opportunity never materialized."

He had been in the running for the Prima Pramac Yamaha team and for LCR Honda, but different choices were made and he stayed in Moto2. In any case, he knows what he needs to do to earn the step up to MotoGP: "I know that to move up I have to prove once again that I can keep winning races and fighting for the world title. I think I’ll have a better opportunity than this year, because many things will change, many riders’ contracts will expire."

It will help that the vast majority of the grid will be out of contract; there will be more chances for him. But everything will depend on being a frontrunner in Moto2. It’s worth remembering that he has already tested the Trackhouse team’s Aprilia RS-GP25 in a test at Aragon, but he dreams of stepping up to the top class full time.