Agius takes fourth despite knee slider Czeching out early

Senna just misses out on Czech Moto2 podium as Kelso bags a season-best 8th in Moto3

Senna Agius turned in a gutsy ride at Brno, overcoming the loss of his right knee slider on lap three to finish a fighting fourth in the Moto2 Czech GP, with the Australian staying in touch with the podium battle right to the closing stages.

The 21-year-old Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider had started from fourth and was firmly in the mix from the outset, sitting fifth at the end of the opening lap after being slotted in behind David Alonso, Ivan Ortola, Daniel Holgado and Izan Guevara. Even after the knee slider drama, Agius kept pressing on, remained part of the leading contest and finished the race just behind home hero Filip Salač after running close to the top three through the second half of the race.

Up front, Ortola pinched a remarkable first Moto2 victory with a last-corner move on Alonso, despite having to serve a Long Lap penalty during the race. Salač completed the podium in third in front of his home crowd, ending the day just 0.7s short of victory.

Alonso held the lead from pole into Turn 1, while Ortola launched from the second row into second place despite the penalty he still had to serve. Salač lost ground on lap one and dropped to sixth, with Agius moving through the early phase in a strong position among the front group.

Agius had set his sights high for the season’s ninth race, but his job became much tougher on lap three when the right knee slider came loose from his leathers. Despite that handicap, the Australian kept his speed and composure, continuing to race inside the lead pack as the fight developed.

World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez was also making progress after his grid penalty, rising three positions to 10th by the end of lap one. A lap later, he had passed Collin Veijer and Joe Roberts to move into eighth.

Ortola took his Long Lap on lap four, but had built enough of a buffer over Guevara to rejoin in second. Guevara attacked at Turn 8, only for Ortola to respond immediately by hanging on around the outside and then controlling the inside line into Turn 9. Alonso’s advantage grew to 1.4s at that point, but it was only temporary.

Ortola soon set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:58.636, to drag himself back to within a second of Alonso. Behind them, Gonzalez had climbed to sixth, with Salač in fifth and Guevara and Agius occupying third and fourth in the running order ahead.

One of the key moments involving Agius came on lap 11, when he attacked Guevara up the inside at Turn 7 in the fight for the podium places. Both riders ran wide, and Salač took full advantage by sweeping past them to grab third. Even so, Agius remained very much in the contest, with the leading pair still only around half a second ahead.

By lap 13, Salač had joined Alonso and Ortola at the front, making it a three-way fight for the win, while Agius stayed just behind that battle. With four laps remaining, Ortola twice had a crack at Alonso, first at Turn 1 and then again at Turn 4, but Alonso answered both challenges and kept the lead.

The race built to a beauty. Alonso, Ortola and Salač were covered by very little, while Agius sat just 0.8s behind in fourth and remained close enough to strike if anything happened ahead. Then, with two laps to go, Salač lost some valuable ground, dropping 0.8s away from the leading duo and leaving himself only 0.5s clear of Agius.

That made the final lap a tense one at both ends of the top-four battle. Alonso and Ortola went head-to-head for the win, while Salač had to defend his dream home podium from the charging Agius. In the end, no move came until the last few corners, where Ortola set up Alonso at Turn 13 before cutting underneath at Turn 14 to seal his maiden Moto2 victory.

Alonso had to settle for second, which still gave him his first podium of the season. Salač held on for third to deliver back-to-back podiums and a memorable result for the Czech fans at Brno. Agius, only just missing the rostrum, still emerged with a very solid fourth place after one of the more determined rides of the afternoon.

Gonzalez completed his comeback from 13th on the grid to finish fifth, and his final-lap pass on title rival Guevara added further value to the result in championship terms. Guevara crossed the line in sixth, Holgado faded to seventh, less than half a second ahead of Roberts in eighth, while Celestino Vietti was ninth and Jose Antonio Rueda continued his points streak in 10th.

In the Moto2 championship, Manuel Gonzalez still leads the way on 165.5 points, with Izan Guevara holding second on 115 and Celestino Vietti third on 109. Senna Agius remains right in the mix in fourth on 107, just two points behind Vietti, while David Alonso rounds out the top five on 91.

Senna Agius
“Fourth place isn’t quite what we deserved today, because I felt like I could have won with this bike, and the top riders weren’t far ahead of me. But on the third lap, I lost a knee slider. With my long legs, everything’s been banking in the corners, and the bike almost threw me off. I really had to stay calm to maintain a consistent pace. Now we’re entering a phase where we can score good points for the championship in every race, and that’s really important for us. We’re slowly climbing up the championship standings and staying consistent — and that’s the key in Moto2. So, I’m pretty satisfied. We need to head to Assen in full motivation and in attack mode to keep improving and fight for the win there. Many thanks to the entire team, which once again did a great job.”

Jacob Roulstone
“P24 isn’t where I’d like to finish, but I significantly improved my finishing time from the last race and gained valuable experience battling with other riders. A few days off now before Assen this weekend.”

2026 MOTO2 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Kelso take season-best 8th at boiling Brno

Hakim Danish claimed his first Moto3 victory with a cracking charge from 14th on the grid after a 12-place penalty, taking the win in a wild last-lap fight and delivering Malaysia’s first Grand Prix triumph since Khairul Idham Pawi at the Sachsenring in 2016.

The AEON Credit MT Helmets MSI rider became the fourth new winner of the 2026 season, finishing ahead of Brian Uriarte and championship leader Maximo Quiles.

Joel Kelso came away with eighth for GRYD Racing, his strongest result of 2026. Kelso had lined up ninth on the grid after qualifying, but in the opening laps contact with another rider cost him important time and detached him from the lead group, leaving him embroiled in a titanic scrap for the remaining positions in the top 10.

Up front, Quiles grabbed the holeshot from polesitter David Almansa, with Almansa, Alvaro Carpe and Uriarte quickly forming the first lead group. Danish wasted no time slicing forward from 14th to fifth by lap two, while Veda Pratama also charged through from 20th after his own 12-place penalty to join the front fight by lap five.

The lead changed hands repeatedly as Almansa, Uriarte, Quiles and Carpe all had their turns at the front, while Casey O’Gorman crashed out at Turn 9 on lap six after briefly joining the battle. With two laps to go, Quiles was still leading, but pressure was coming from everywhere. A moment involving Pratama and Almansa at Turn 10, along with an error from Carpe, helped Quiles, Uriarte and Danish break slightly clear.

On the final lap, contact between Quiles and Uriarte at Turn 8 opened the door for Danish, who stormed through and could not be stopped in the run to the flag. Uriarte beat Quiles for second, Almansa slipped to fourth despite running second near the end, and Pratama took fifth. Carpe finished sixth, with Marco Morelli recovering from 17th on the grid to seventh.

Kelso’s eighth-place finish still stood out as a solid result after the early setback. Scott Ogden was ninth and Valentin Perrone completed the top 10.

In the championship, Quiles remains out front on 186 points, ahead of Carpe on 121 and Uriarte on 92. Almansa is fourth with 89, with Morelli close behind on 86.

Joel Kelso
“Overall, not a bad Sunday. Not the result we were chasing today, but there are still plenty of positives to take away. The opening laps weren’t ideal after making contact with another rider, which cost us valuable time and made it difficult to latch onto the front group. Now we head to Assen, and hopefully we can carry this momentum forward and take another step towards fighting for the podium!”

2026 MOTO3 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS