Moto2 Sepang: Gonzalez responds to Guevara—the championship leader tops Practice, while his rival finishes fourth

Manuel Gonzalez strikes the first blow of the Malaysian weekend in the Moto2 title fight. The World Championship leader topped Friday afternoon’s practice sessions at Sepang with a time of 2'03"737, while Izan Guevara, fresh from three straight wins, finished fourth, more than two tenths back.

It is a significant statement, as in previous weekends it had almost always been the Pramac Yamaha rider who hit the ground running. The stakes make every detail count: Gonzalez arrives in Malaysia with a slim 5.5-point lead over Guevara, who has strung together victories in Austria, Japan and Indonesia. Alonso Lopez and Daniel Holgado placed behind Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact rider Gonzalez, followed by Guevara.

Gonzalez’s day got off to a difficult start. Guevara set the fastest time in morning FP1 with a 2'04"005, still well off the lap record Holgado set last year at 2'02"858. Gonzalez, meanwhile, crashed—only the third time he has gone down this season—and finished ninth, 0"859 behind his rival.

The picture changed in the afternoon. With rain threatening the 40-minute session, several riders immediately went in search of a fast lap, and Gonzalez set the benchmark in the early stages. At the halfway point, he led Lopez by 0"144 and Guevara by 0"608. The final eight-minute push reshuffled much of the order, but the top two’s times remained unbeaten.

The format rewards the top 14, who advance directly to Saturday’s Q2. The rest go through Q1, where only the four fastest progress, while those eliminated start from 19th place onwards. Behind the leading four, Tony Arbolino, Ivan Ortolá (third in the World Championship), Angel Piqueras, Collin Veijer, Daniel Muñoz, Taiyo Furusato, Senna Agius, Joe Roberts, Mario Aji and Adrian Huertas qualified.

Huertas snatched the final qualifying spot at the last moment, posting the same time as Filip Salač: the Czech rider was left 15th by less than a thousandth of a second. It was a day to forget for David Alonso, who is expected to move up to MotoGP next year, as he managed only 18th. Celestino Vietti and Barry Baltus also face Q1, with Baltus 19th, just 41 thousandths shy of Q2. Deniz Öncü (Marc VDS) fared even worse, crashing after four minutes: his Boscoscuro was retrieved from the gravel, and the Turk finished 26th.

Saturday’s qualifying will show whether Friday’s psychological edge is real: a pole position at Sepang would be the perfect response from Gonzalez to Guevara’s winning streak.

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