MotoGP 2026

Round 12 – Silverstone

Moto2

Salač wins after extraordinary final-lap confusion

Filip Salač claimed his first Moto2 Grand Prix victory after one of the more unusual finales the intermediate class has produced.

The Czech rider defeated Ivan Ortola by just 0.303s, while Alex Escrig completed the podium only 0.652s from victory to celebrate his first Moto2 rostrum.

Yet those finishing positions tell only a fraction of the story.

Six different riders led the race at the completion of a lap, championship leader Manuel González appeared poised to win before celebrating one lap early, Daniel Holgado was caught up in the resulting confusion and then produced an enormous save on the actual final lap, while Tony Arbolino crashed out after leading and setting a new race lap record.

Guevara controls the opening phase

Pole-sitter Izan Guevara made the launch he needed and led the opening eight laps, initially holding Alonso López and Ivan Ortola at bay.

Daniel Holgado had started seventh but was rapidly moving forward and reached second by lap three.

The pace at the front was exceptionally close. Arbolino eventually established a new Moto2 race lap record of 2m02.682s on lap seven, but Holgado, Ortola and Escrig were all within five-hundredths of that benchmark.

Holgado finally drafted past Guevara into Stowe on lap nine, beginning a remarkable sequence of changes at the front.

Holgado led laps nine and ten, Ortola headed lap 11, Arbolino took over on lap 12, and Holgado reclaimed the lead for laps 13 through 15.

Behind them González had recovered from a relatively poor opening phase and was becoming increasingly threatening.

Arbolino’s charge ends at Vale

Arbolino had become a genuine victory contender and was arguably the fastest rider in the race before losing the front at Vale with just over four laps remaining.

His exit left Holgado, González, Ortola and Salač locked together at the front.

Guevara, meanwhile, had begun struggling badly with chatter from the front of his Boscoscuro. After controlling the opening half of the race, the pole-sitter increasingly found himself unable to turn the bike as he wanted and eventually slipped to fifth.

Izan Guevara

“At the beginning, I felt very comfortable and was riding calmly, maintaining a gap of around 0.3 to 0.5 seconds to the rider behind. But suddenly, the bike started to jump at the front, and I had a lot of chatter. I was almost unable to get the bike to turn properly, so everyone started attacking me and there was not much I could do without risking a crash.”

Fifth was still valuable in championship terms, as Guevara took nine points out of González’s advantage.

González celebrates a lap too early

The closing laps then became extraordinary.

González moved into the lead for the first time on lap 16 after working his way through an increasingly aggressive four-rider battle.

As he approached the start-finish line, however, González believed the race was ending.

He began celebrating as he crossed the line, only to discover there was still another 5.9 kilometres to run.

Holgado was immediately behind and had to react to González’s change in speed. Contact was made with the rear of the Intact machine, damaging González’s exhaust and leaving it interfering with the rear of the bike.

González had no chance of defending the lead from there and was forced to limp around the final lap.

Manuel González

“A few laps earlier, I’d been looking for the lap counter display at the finish line but couldn’t see it. So, I thought it was the last lap. I wasn’t 100 percent sure if it was the last lap or not, so I crossed the finish line at full throttle, even though I was already celebrating a little bit. The bad luck was that Dani touched the sprocket and the exhaust, which is why I couldn’t fight anymore in the last lap.”

González eventually finished 14th, scoring only two points from a race he had been leading moments earlier.

Holgado saves it – but loses the podium

Holgado survived the contact and remained in the fight, but his adventure wasn’t over.

On the exit of Luffield during the actual final lap, the Spaniard suffered a huge rear-end moment and somehow stayed aboard.

The save cost him the podium, however, allowing Salač, Ortola and Escrig to escape.

Salač held his nerve at the front and crossed the line three-tenths ahead of Ortola, with Escrig only another 0.349s behind.

Holgado salvaged fourth, 1.743s from the winner.

Dani Holgado

“I had a very positive race; I managed it well from the start and tried to push when the others were easing off. I tried to win the race and get the best possible result. Despite the final lap, where some rather strange things happened, I’m very happy with the race. Nobody’s going to take away my excitement about this race and all the positives from today.”

Guevara was fifth ahead of the returning Alonso López, Daniel Muñoz, Deniz Öncü, Barry Baltus and Sergio García.

Agius struck by technical problem

Senna Agius had arrived at Silverstone with fond memories of his maiden Grand Prix victory here in 2025, but his Sunday challenge was effectively over within the opening few laps.

The Australian suffered an early shifting problem that severely compromised his speed and sent him tumbling down the order.

Rather than retire, Agius elected to complete the 17 laps and eventually crossed the line 20th.

Senna Agius

“Unfortunately, we had a technical problem today. That made it difficult to keep going, but I decided not to give up, even though the race was more or less over for me. I just tried to stay in the mix, avoid making mistakes, and see what we could still achieve to make the best of it. I decided not to retire, and I’m proud to have finished the race.”

Agius remains third in the Moto2 World Championship on 136 points, although Ortola is now only 2.5 points behind him and Holgado another 5.5 further back.

González continues to lead with 197.5 points, but Guevara has reduced his deficit to 42.5.

Alonso penalised after Veijer contact

David Alonso’s difficult Silverstone weekend continued when he made contact with Collin Veijer on the opening lap.

Veijer crashed and Alonso was subsequently handed a Long Lap Penalty for causing the incident.

The Colombian completed the penalty but could make little further progress and finished 21st.

David Alonso

“First of all, I’d like to apologise to Collin Veijer. On the first lap, I went into the chicane a bit late and couldn’t avoid the contact. Overall, I struggled all weekend and, in the race, with the ‘long lap’ it was even harder for me to make up ground.”

Silverstone Moto2 Race Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	F. Salac	Kal	35m01.869
2	I. Ortola	Kal	+0.303
3	A. Escrig	For	+0.652
4	D. Holgado	Kal	+1.743
5	I. Guevara	Bos	+2.555
6	A. Lopez	Kal	+6.201
7	D. Muñoz	Kal	+6.293
8	D. Öncü	Bos	+7.185
9	B. Baltus	Kal	+7.310
10	S. Garcia	Kal	+8.873
11	A. Sasaki	Kal	+9.066
12	J. Roberts	Kal	+13.675
13	C. Vietti	Bos	+13.722
14	M. Gonzalez	Kal	+15.060
15	A. Ferrandez	Bos	+15.063
16	L. Lunetta	Bos	+18.494
17	A. Piqueras	Kal	+18.548
18	A. Huertas	Kal	+18.702
19	J. Rueda	Kal	+18.840
20	S. Agius	Kal	+19.246
21	D. Alonso	Kal	+20.029
22	M. Aji	Kal	+21.323
23	T. Furusato	Kal	+22.360
24	Z. Vd Goorbergh	Kal	+22.481
25	X. Zurutuza	For	+27.683
Not Classified
DNF	T. Arbolino	Kal	+5 Laps
DNF	A. Canet	Bos	+9 Laps
DNF	C. Veijer	Kal	DNF

Moto2 Championship Standings

POS	RIDER	POINTS
1	M. Gonzalez	197.5
2	I. Guevara	155
3	S. Agius	136
4	I. Ortola	133.5
5	D. Holgado	128
6	D. Alonso	116
7	C. Vietti	112
8	F. Salac	108
9	A. Lopez	67.5
10	C. Veijer	55.5
11	D. Muñoz	54
12	A. Escrig	50
13	T. Arbolino	42.5
14	J. Roberts	36
15	B. Baltus	35
16	J. Rueda	27
17	A. Huertas	26
18	D. Öncü	23.5
19	L. Lunetta	17
20	A. Sasaki	16
21	A. Ferrandez	15.5
22	T. Furusato	15
23	A. Canet	13.5
24	Z. Vd Goorbergh	12
25	S. Garcia	11
26	A. Piqueras	4
27	M. Aji	3
28	M. Ramirez	0
29	U. Orradre	0
30	J. Navarro	0
31	X. Zurutuza	0
32	D. Foggia	0
33	J. Roulstone	0
34	M. Pawelec	0

Moto3

Almansa judges it perfectly

David Almansa then completed a significant Sunday for the Intact GP organisation by claiming his second Moto3 victory of 2026.

With championship leader Máximo Quiles absent after breaking his collarbone in Saturday qualifying, the opportunity was there for the chasing riders to make a sizeable dent in his enormous points advantage.

Almansa took the best advantage of all.

Starting from fourth, the Spaniard rocketed to the front on the opening lap and spent much of the 15-lap race setting the pace.

Brian Uriarte briefly led lap two and Álvaro Carpe took his turn on lap four, but from lap five Almansa increasingly became the rider the others had to beat.

The leading group repeatedly concertinaed back together as slipstreaming and changing positions prevented anyone from making a decisive break.

Almansa had been watching the tyres

The 48-degree track temperature made tyre management a factor even in Moto3, and Almansa had done some useful homework before the race.

With Moto3 running unusually late on Sunday, he had been able to watch the earlier races and noted how dramatically performance could fall away if the tyres were abused.

David Almansa

“Today’s unusual schedule allowed me to watch the other races in their entirety, and I saw that the tires suffered a massive drop in performance. That’s why I tried to conserve them well in the early laps, even though it was a tough battle right from the start. At halfway point of the distance, I started pushing harder to open a gap.”

That strategy showed in the lap times. Almansa’s pace improved as the race developed and he was still able to produce a 2m10.251s on lap 14 before backing it up with a 2m10.509s on the final lap.

He crossed the line 0.701s clear of Carpe.

Last-lap drama decides the podium

Behind Almansa, the fight for the remaining podium places remained unresolved until the final corners.

Brian Uriarte had been deeply involved in the six-rider scrap and was running third when he crashed at Turn Six on the final lap.

Uriarte remounted but could salvage only 19th.

Adrian Fernández then looked well placed for a podium before a moment in the final sector opened the door.

Carpe and Valentin Perrone both took advantage, with Carpe grabbing second and Perrone third. Fernández was pushed back to fourth, only 1.111s from the winner, with Joel Esteban fifth.

Carpe also set the fastest lap of the race, a 2m10.199s on lap ten.

Kelso charges from 17th to sixth

Joel Kelso’s sixth place deserves considerably more attention than the finishing position alone suggests.

The Australian had qualified tenth but endured a dreadful opening lap that left him 17th when the field first crossed the line.

From there he began a long recovery.

Kelso climbed to 13th by lap five, 11th by lap six, remained around the edge of the second group for much of the middle phase and then made another late charge.

He was ninth with one lap remaining and crossed the line sixth, heading the second group home 11.614s behind Almansa.

Kelso’s best lap of 2m10.984s came on lap four, and the ten points earned at Silverstone take him to 50 for the season.

Rico Salmela finished just 0.145s behind Kelso in seventh, followed by British rider Eddie O’Shea, Veda Pratama and Matteo Bertelle.

Home hopes end in the gravel

Saturday pole-sitter Scott Ogden’s hopes of converting his historic home pole into a result disappeared after a difficult start and subsequent crash at Club.

His CIP Green Power team-mate Adrian Cruces had already fallen, while Cormac Buchanan’s race ended with a technical problem after eight laps.

Marco Morelli was another to have a difficult afternoon, serving a Long Lap Penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits before finishing 16th.

World Championship debut points for González

David González completed an impressive World Championship debut with 14th place and two points.

The 18-year-old had arrived without previous Silverstone experience and had been several seconds from the front on Friday, but progressively closed the gap throughout the weekend.

David González

“I’m very happy because I finished my first World Championship race with two points, and I’m also pleased with the work we did throughout the weekend. I felt very comfortable in this environment right from the start. In the end, I finished in 14th place, which I’m happy about, and I’m also glad that I was able to score points for the team.”

Quiles still has plenty in hand

Quiles leaves Silverstone without adding to his 231 points, but the size of the advantage he brought to Britain limits the damage.

Carpe’s second place makes him the new nearest challenger on 146 points, 85 behind Quiles.

Almansa’s victory lifts him to third on 134 ahead of Uriarte on 127, while Marco Morelli remains fifth with 115.

The Moto2 and Moto3 championships now join MotoGP in heading to MotorLand Aragón from August 28-30.

Silverstone Moto3 Race Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	D. Almansa	KTM	32m45.262
2	A. Carpe	KTM	+0.701
3	V. Perrone	KTM	+0.991
4	A. Fernandez	Hon	+1.111
5	J. Esteban	KTM	+3.743
6	J. Kelso	Hon	+11.614
7	R. Salmela	KTM	+11.759
8	E. O’Shea	Hon	+11.818
9	V. Pratama	Hon	+12.276
10	M. Bertelle	KTM	+12.351
11	J. Rios	Hon	+22.415
12	C. O’Gorman	Hon	+22.463
13	G. Pini	Hon	+22.847
14	D. Gonzalez	KTM	+22.895
15	K. Singhapong	Hon	+35.339
16	M. Morelli	KTM	+35.419
17	L. Rammerstorfer	Hon	+47.382
18	L. Abruzzo	KTM	+49.274
19	B. Uriarte	KTM	+1m18.732
Not Classified
DNF	R. Yamanaka	KTM	+2 Laps
DNF	N. Carraro	Hon	+3 Laps
DNF	C. Buchanan	KTM	+7 Laps
DNF	S. Ogden	KTM	+10 Laps
DNF	H. Danish	KTM	+10 Laps
DNF	A. Cruces	KTM	+11 Laps

Moto3 Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Points
1	M. Quiles	231
2	A. Carpe	146
3	D. Almansa	134
4	B. Uriarte	127
5	M. Morelli	115
6	V. Pratama	97
7	V. Perrone	95
8	H. Danish	86
9	M. Bertelle	66
10	R. Salmela	60
11	J. Esteban	59
12	G. Pini	52
13	D. Muñoz	52
14	A. Fernandez	51
15	E. O’Shea	50
16	J. Kelso	50
17	J. Rios	49
18	A. Cruces	46
19	C. O’Gorman	44
20	S. Ogden	27
21	R. Yamanaka	22
22	M. Uriarte	6
23	C. Buchanan	5
24	L. Rammerstorfer	4
25	D. Gonzalez	2
26	Z. Mitani	2
27	R. Moodley	1
28	K. Singhapong	1
29	N. Carraro	0
30	L. Abruzzo	0
31	E. Gutierrez	0

2026 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd	Date	Event	Circuit
1	01 Mar	Thai	Chang International Circuit
2	22 Mar	Brazil*	Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
3	29 Mar	US	Circuit of the Americas
4	26 Apr	Spain**	Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
5	10 May	France	Le Mans
6	17 May	Catalonia	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
7	31 May	Italy	Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
8	07 Jun	Hungary	Balaton Park Circuit
9	21 Jun	Czech	Automotodrom Brno
10	28 Jun	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen
11	12 Jul	Germany	Sachsenring
12	09 Aug	GB	Silverstone Circuit
13	30 Aug	Aragon	MotorLand Aragon
14	13 Sep	San Marino	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
15	20 Sep	Austria	Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
16	04 Oct	Japan	Mobility Resort Motegi
17	11 Oct	Indonesia	Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
18	25 Oct	Australia	Phillip Island
19	01 Nov	Malaysia	Petronas Sepang International Circuit
20	08 Nov	Qatar	Lusail International Circuit
21	22 Nov	Portugal	Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
22	29 Nov	Valencia	Circuit Ricardo Tormo

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