Agius charges to Aragon fourth

Senna Agius stormed into the fight from 10th on the Moto2 grid at MotorLand Aragon, as Alonso Lopez returned to the top step with a lights-to-flag win

Senna Agius turned a tough Saturday into a standout Sunday at MotorLand Aragon, fighting from the fourth row to finish fourth in Moto2 and putting himself at the centre of the race story despite Alonso Lopez claiming victory. Starting 10th, the 21-year-old produced an aggressive opening lap, picking off two or three riders immediately before moving into eighth and then seventh as he charged forward.

At times, Agius was the fastest rider on the circuit. He kept reeling in the group ahead and looked increasingly threatening as the race developed, but tyre wear in the closing laps stopped him from taking the fight any closer to the podium. Even so, P4 marked a strong result from 10th on the grid, and he had to work for it right to the flag as Ivan Ortola closed late before Agius held him off across the line to secure his second fourth-place finish in a row at this venue.

Up front, Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) was untouchable, converting his first pole position in three years into a commanding win. The Spaniard grabbed the holeshot cleanly and controlled the 19-lap contest from there, completing what was described as a perfect weekend at Aragon. It was his first win since the 2024 Qatar GP, and it came only a few weeks after fracturing his hand.

Early in the race, Guevara held second while Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) and Gonzalez stayed in place behind him. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) moved ahead of Alonso into fifth, while Agius and Ortola both made the kind of assertive starts they needed from lower on the grid, climbing into seventh and eighth. By Lap 5, the top nine, down to Angel Piqueras (QJMOTOR – Reverte – MSI), were separated by only a little over two and a half seconds, and Lopez used the end of that lap to set the fastest lap and edge his advantage over Guevara beyond half a second.

Agius kept applying pressure as the race tightened. He was all over Alonso in the early laps and set his fastest lap while pressing on. Then on Lap 10, the race sparked properly. Alonso passed Gonzalez at Turn 1, Gonzalez tried to hang on around the outside but was forced off the ideal line into Turn 2, and Agius took full advantage to get by. Soon after, Alonso repeated the move on teammate Holgado for fourth at Turn 1.

Agius then found himself delayed behind Holgado, costing him valuable time to the riders ahead. On Lap 13, he finally made it count, diving past Holgado into Turn 13 and sliding the rear on exit as he committed fully to the move. It was enough to secure fifth at that stage, although the delay had allowed the leading group to break away by more than a second. Gonzalez also cleared Holgado and quickly latched onto Agius, setting up a tense contest behind.

That battle became even more intense on Lap 15 when Gonzalez shaped to attack into Turn 1, but from too far back. He ran in hot, nearly collected Agius, and went off the track, dropping ground at a crucial moment. It helped Agius keep control of fourth, though Ortola’s strong late pace meant the pressure remained all the way to the finish.

The fight for the podium changed again when Veijer, who had earlier passed Holgado with a Turn 16 move on Lap 9, crashed quickly at Turn 4 after losing third place to Alonso at Turn 1. That ended his podium hopes and left Lopez, Guevara and Alonso clear at the front.

In the closing laps, the only real question was whether Guevara or Alonso could do anything about Lopez. There were concerns about rear tyre life, but they never seemed to affect the leader. With two laps remaining, Lopez was 0.7s clear of Guevara, while Alonso sat right on the Spaniard’s back wheel. On the final lap, Lopez still led by 0.6s, and unless he made a mistake, the win was his.

The real drama was behind him. Guevara and Alonso went at it at Turn 8, elbows out, with Guevara hanging on for the moment. Then a small error from Guevara into Turn 14 hurt his drive through Turn 15 and onto the 0.9km back straight, opening the door for Alonso. The Colombian threw his Kalex-Triumph up the inside of Guevara’s Boscoscuro-Triumph, but ran in just too hot, allowing Guevara to cut back underneath and secure second place and those crucial 20 points. For Alonso, third still represented an important rebound after what had been described as a disastrous Silverstone weekend.

Lopez, though, was in a class of his own. It was a lights-to-flag victory, without a mistake, and a return to winning form in Moto2 after a long wait.

Agius and Ortola completed the top five and both took important points from sixth-placed Gonzalez, whose championship lead was reduced to 32.5 points ahead of the Misano-Red Bull Ring double header. Holgado finished seventh, while Deniz Öncü (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) backed up his Silverstone P8 with another eighth-place finish at Aragon after starting from P18. Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team), fresh from his British GP podium, recovered from an early nudge off circuit to finish ninth, and Adrian Huertas (Italtrans Racing Team) completed the top 10.

Manuel Gonzalez still leads the Moto2 standings on 207.5 points, but Izan Guevara has reduced the margin to 32.5 with 175. Senna Agius remains third on 149, while Ivan Ortola sits fourth with 144.5 and Daniel Holgado completes the top five on 137, leaving the fight behind the leader tightly packed heading into the next round.

Senna Agius
“It was a tough race in which I was able to make up some ground. I got off to a good start, rode pretty aggressively at the beginning, and handled the first part well. That was important because, since I’d to start a bit further back, I had to work a bit harder in the early stages. However, it took me a bit too long to pass the others, especially the Aspar riders, and to close in on the podium group. Midway through the race, I missed the timing a bit, but I gave it my all until both the front and rear tires reached their limits because I’d pushed them too hard in the first half. I’m happy to have finished 4th after starting from 10th, but we have some very clear work ahead of us at Misano. Race pace isn’t a problem, and I’m confident that I can fight for any result. But I still need to figure out how to best exploit the package’s potential over a single lap. In Moto2, it’s extremely important to start from far up the grid. That’s what we’re focusing on now. Compared to yesterday, we bounced back well after a somewhat disappointing day and scored important points for the championship and for the team today. A big thank you to everyone who always gives their all for me. We’re highly motivated to finish the year strong. I feel really good with the bike, which is a very positive thing. We’ll keep working hard and never give up.”

2026 MOTO2 WORLD STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 13