Moto2 Austria Qualifying: Manuel Gonzalez smashes lap record

The 2025 Moto2 World Championship resumes this weekend at the Red Bull Ring, with the Austrian Grand Prix. After twelve intense first races at the front, the title race remains in suspense. The final ten races of this campaign promise to be exciting. Heading into the thirteenth round of the season, Manuel Gonzalez leads the overall standings with 25 points more than his closest rival, Aron Canet. Having finished on the back of two consecutive second-place finishes before the break, Belgian Barry Baltus is 2 points behind the leader, still seeking his first victory in the category.

Moto2™ Austria, Red Bull Ring	2024	2025
FP	1'34.233 Ai Ogura	1'33.427 Filip Salac
P1	1'33.943 Ai Ogura	1'33.290 Manuel Gonzalez
P2	1'33.461 Sergio Garcia	1'33.216 Aron Canet
Q1	1'35.300 Zonta Van Den Goorbergh	1'33.062 David Alonso
Q2	1'34.855 Celestino Vietti	1'32.779 Manuel Gonzalez
Golf Course	Vietti, Lopez, Dixon (See here)
All time lap record	1'33.461 Sergio Garcia 2024	1'32.779 Manuel Gonzalez

Qualification 1:

Many Moto2 riders, usually present in Q2, were caught out by the Red Bull Ring the day before. David Alonso, Jake Dixon, and the most recent winner, Joe Roberts, thus found themselves in Q1. However, the task was easy for the Colombian, who dominated most of the session. For the other two, however, the difficulties persisted. They were far from the top five throughout Q5.

It was only at the very end of the session that Jake Dixon made it into the top four, qualifying for Q4. However, the Briton's time was disallowed for track limits violations. He was relegated to sixth place. As for Joe Roberts, the American failed to advance to the front of the field, only posting the seventh fastest time. The two men will start from 2th and 6st positions on the grid tomorrow afternoon.

At the checkered flag, David Alonso held onto the best time of the session, with a time of 1:33.062. Ayumu Sasaki and Daniel Munoz completed the top three, two tenths behind. The last driver to qualify for Q3 was none other than Collin Veijer, who set a time of 2:2, which put him 1 thousandths ahead of the fifth-placed driver, Zonta van der Goorbergh.

Qualification 2:

At the start of Q2, Manuel Gonzalez, determined to claim yet another pole position this year, immediately set a time of 1:33.074, putting him in the lead. He was followed by Diogo Moreira and David Alonso, less than a tenth behind after their first attempts. Before returning to the pits, however, the Colombian upped the ante, setting a new benchmark of 1:33.064. Fantic drivers Aron Canet and Barry Baltus, meanwhile, were outside the top 10 after the first round of qualifying.

A few minutes later, the drivers set off for a second run. Manuel Gonzalez took advantage of the opportunity to regain control of the scoreboard (1:32.845). A record time, which no one would come close to at the end of the session. The time set by Diogo Moreira at the start of the session was enough for him to hold on to third place. He was nevertheless overtaken by Daniel Holgado during his final effort.

Penalized three places on the starting grid following an infraction committed the day before, Manuel Gonzalez will start from fourth position on the grid. Daniel Holgado therefore inherits pole position. Celestino Vietti, who set the fourth fastest time, will be promoted to the front row.

Aron Canet finally finished 8th, while Barry Baltus, slightly off the pace since the start of the weekend, recorded one of his worst Qualifying results this season in Moto2, with 11th place on the starting grid.

Moto2 – Austrian GP 2025 – Q2 standings: