Moto2 Motegi: Guevara makes it four poles with a record; Gonzalez salvages it

Izan Guevara takes pole position for the Moto2 Japanese Grand Prix, doing it with a new Motegi lap record. The Pramac team rider closed Q2 in 1'46.851, trimming by 99 thousandths the benchmark he himself had set a few hours earlier in FP2. It’s his fourth pole of the season, after Le Mans, Balaton and Silverstone.

Joining him on the front row will be Filip Salac, second by 51 thousandths, and especially Manuel Gonzalez, third. The championship leader thus limits the damage on a day when his rival sends another clear signal, two weeks after the win in Austria.

In Saturday morning’s FP2, Guevara stopped the clock at 1'46.950, the first lap under 1'47 in Motegi’s history. The qualifying session took place in sunny conditions at 22 degrees.

Q2 wasn’t straightforward for the Spaniard. Mid-session, Guevara was on a fast lap but made a mistake in the final sector, aborted the attempt and returned to the pits. At that moment Alonso was leading, having kicked things off with a 1'47.167 before lowering to 1'47.103. With fresh tires, the final chase began: a minute from the end Tony Arbolino took the top spot in 1'47.044, but Guevara immediately answered with the pole lap.

In the finale, Holgado (1'46.967), Gonzalez (1'46.961) and Salac inserted themselves into the fight, with the latter setting a 1'46.902 on his last attempt. The Czech had started Q2 in the gravel after an early-session slide, but redeemed himself brilliantly. Daniel Munoz, who also fell at the start, did not set any time.

The top Italian is Arbolino, fifth, who brushed the dream of pole before a less-than-excellent final sector relegated him to the second row, between the Kalex of Dani Holgado (4th) and David Alonso (6th). The Colombian, 24th in FP2, had long stayed ahead of everyone. Holgado, last year’s winner here, fought for pole right to the end.

Ninth is Celestino Vietti, the best of those coming from Q1. The SpeedRS rider believed until the final attempt, when he was 66 thousandths up halfway through the lap, but crashed due to a front-end fold at the end of the third sector. Ahead of him will start Ivan Ortola and Adrian Huertas, while Senna Agius rounds out the top 10. An afternoon to forget for Luca Lunetta, 25th.

Also advancing from Q1 were Zonta van den Goorbergh, Unai Orradre, on the QJMotor in place of Angel Piqueras, and Alex Escrig, 16th on the grid. Ayumu Sasaki is the best of the Japanese, 13th, while Jose Antonio Rueda is the best rookie, 15th. Barry Baltus, who crashed in Q1, will start 24th.

In the standings, Gonzalez has a 35.5-point lead over Guevara. With seven races still to be contested, including Motegi, 175 points remain up for grabs. On Sunday the two rivals will start one slot apart: Guevara has the pace, Gonzalez, poleman here in 2025, has the position to respond immediately.

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