MotoGP 2026

Round Three – COTA

Moto2

Close-up portrait of Senna Agius on the grid at COTA wearing sunglasses and holding an umbrella above his Intact GP leathers. — Senna Agius on the grid before the red-flag affected Moto2 race at COTA.

Senna Agius produced the sort of ride that can reset a season at Circuit of The Americas, turning a chaotic and heavily interrupted Moto2 contest into a breakthrough victory that carried far more weight than the 25 points alone. After failing to score in either of the opening two rounds, the Australian emerged from Austin with his second Moto2 career win and a timely reminder that he remains one of the most aggressive and resilient racers in the intermediate class.

Wide shot of the Moto2 pack sweeping through the early corners at Circuit of The Americas with the grandstands and infield visible in the background. — The Moto2 field drops downhill into the opening complex at COTA during the American Grand Prix.

The race itself was anything but straightforward. The original start barely got going before a multi-rider first-lap incident brought out the red flag, with Joe Roberts, Daniel Holgado, David Alonso, Collin Veijer, Daniel Muñoz and Filip Salac among those caught up, while Alberto Fernandez, Angel Piqueras and Sergio Garcia were ruled out of the restart.

The stoppage came before three laps had been completed, so the Grand Prix was reset as a 10-lap sprint. Deniz Öncü then crashed during the sighting lap before the second start, adding to the sense of disorder throughout the event.

When the restarted race began, Barry Baltus made the early running, and Alonso Lopez also featured prominently, but Agius was immediately in the mix. The Australian was third at the end of the opening lap, moved into second on lap two, and by lap three had hit the front.

Senna Agius leans through a left-hander at Circuit of The Americas during the Moto2 race, leading Celestino Vietti and another rider behind. — Senna Agius leads the Moto2 fight at COTA on his way to victory in the restarted American Grand Prix.

From there, the complexion of the race changed from scramble to duel, with Agius, Celestino Vietti and Izan Guevara breaking clear as the key contenders.

Senna Agius leads Celestino Vietti and another rider through a sweeping section of the COTA circuit during the Moto2 race. — Agius heads the leading group in Austin as he moves into contention for victory.

Agius led from lap three through lap seven, before Vietti briefly edged ahead on lap eight by just 0.040s. Agius responded immediately, reclaimed the lead on lap nine and held it to the finish.

Senna Agius – Moto2 2026 – Round Three – COTA

The numbers underline how composed the Intact GP rider was under pressure. Agius’ best lap of 2:06.552 came on lap three, at that point the fastest lap of the race, and he remained consistently in the low 2:06 to 2:07 range throughout the 10-lap dash.

Senna Agius and the Intact GP team celebrate the Moto2 win on the podium in Austin. — Senna Agius and the Intact GP crew savour Moto2 victory in Austin. Dad Jono left of shot

Only David Alonso lapped faster all race, with a 2:06.456 on lap six, but Alonso had too much ground to recover after the restart and ultimately finished fourth, 1.843s from the win. Agius crossed the line in 21:10.744, just 0.497s clear of Vietti, with Guevara another 0.411s back in third.

It was not just outright pace that won Agius the race, but also the way he managed the pressure. Vietti stayed within striking distance all the way through the closing laps and briefly got ahead, but Agius did not overreact, nor did he get dragged into a mistake. He reasserted control, kept the door closed and delivered when it mattered most.

Senna Agius

“So many emotions, such a tough race, such a tough two or three weeks going into this race, on and off the track. This victory is for my mechanic who has sadly lost his life in an accident in Rimini, this is for him. I still can’t believe he’s not here too see this, and continue with us, I dedicate this one to him and his family and my fantastic Intact GP team. We really came together these last two weeks, we had a difficult weekend in Brazil, but there’s a lot of lessons to be learnt from this weekend, to keep calm and keep working, because I turned around in a positive attitude, which can get you out of a situation really fast, and this is something I’m still trying to learn and understand to adapt for the future, to be a more consistent championship contender. I’m super motivated, super happy, all my family back in Australia watching me, I can’t believe I did it at COTA, really special weekend, really special feeling here, I love it here. I hope I did everyone proud and gave it my all.

“It was a physical race, even though it’s a 10 lap sprint around this track, it’s super demanding. Also the mental pressure not to make a mistake, also on the brakes, super easy to make a mistake, I knew any mistake onto the back straight I would get passed on the straight. So these braking areas I was definitely very stressed to be consistent and we did it. If when he [Vietti] passed me, I immediately passed him back and shocked him, I knew he wouldn’t do it again. If I let him lead a lap I don’t think I could have… I just wanted to disturb him, I know he’s fast when he’s feeling well, and it’s impossible to slip stream on the back straight, so I couldn’t use the easy way of a slip stream, and I knew to immediately break his rhythm when I saw him again. Fortunately, my bike was really good today, turning with the throttle, so when he passed me I had good drive to turn, and my plan was, if I lost the lead to attack immediately. Especially because we didn’t have a lot of laps to play the game.

“I’m really motivated [for the Spanish GP], I’ve got a lot of things to work on in the next three weeks, the last two weeks have taught me a lot. There’s still some things on riding I need to adapt and learn and be better, and we have three perfect weeks to do the best, understand these areas, train them, focus on them, rest a bit and come out as the best version in Jerez.”

In a race where penalties, incidents and restarts disrupted almost everyone, Senna’s calmness and race craft stood out. Baltus, who led the early laps, dropped to sixth after serving a long-lap penalty for an unsafe change of direction at the race start, while Holgado and Muñoz also had to complete penalties during the restart.

Senna Agius stands on the Moto2 podium with the Australian flag draped behind him as another rider stands nearby. — Agius soaks up the moment on the podium with the Australian flag after his Austin win.

The broader significance is obvious. Agius arrived in Austin with zero points from Thailand and Brazil, but leaves COTA sixth in the world championship on 25 points. That still puts him 14.5 points behind series leader Manuel Gonzalez, but the gap now looks manageable rather than damaging, especially with Gonzalez limited to fifth and main title rivals Izan Guevara and Vietti taking points but not maximum advantage. Gonzalez leads on 39.5 points from Guevara on 36, Holgado on 33 and Vietti on 32, with Agius suddenly back in the picture.

Senna Agius and the Intact GP team celebrate the Moto2 win in Austin.

After the frustration of opening the year with back-to-back non-scores, Agius answered in the strongest possible way, on one of the calendar’s most physically demanding circuits, in a shortened race that rewarded decisiveness from the first corner. It was a result that restored momentum and announced that his 2026 campaign is now properly underway.

Senna Agius points toward the camera while holding the Moto2 winner’s trophy on the podium at Circuit of The Americas. — Senna Agius with the winner’s trophy after his red-flag shortened Moto2 triumph at COTA.

The Moto2 World Championship will now enjoy a larger break than planned, in light of the postponed Qatar Grand Prix, before returning to action in Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix on 24-26 April.

COTA Moto2 Race Results


Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	S. Agius	Kal	21m10.744
2	C. Vietti	Bos	+0.497
3	I. Guevara	Bos	+0.908
4	D. Alonso	Kal	+1.843
5	M. Gonzalez	Kal	+2.729
6	B. Baltus	Kal	+3.251
7	A. Lopez	Kal	+5.003
8	A. Escrig	For	+6.830
9	J. Roberts	Kal	+7.761
10	T. Arbolino	Kal	+8.740
11	I. Ortola	Kal	+11.485
12	A. Huertas	Kal	+11.828
13	A. Canet	Bos	+12.152
14	D. Muñoz	Kal	+14.246
15	J. Rueda	Kal	+20.119
16	D. Holgado	Kal	+21.206
17	A. Sasaki	Kal	+25.265
18	T. Furusato	Kal	+26.356
19	D. Foggia	Bos	+26.488
20	D. Öncü	Bos	+31.146
21	F. Salac	Kal	+32.370
22	Z. vd Goorbergh	Kal	+2 Laps
Not Classified
NC	M. Aji	Kal	2 Laps
NC	C. Veijer	Kal	7 Laps
NC	J. Navarro	For	7 Laps

Moto2 Championship Standings


Pos	Rider	Bike	Points
1	M. Gonzalez	Kal	39.5
2	I. Guevara	Bos	36
3	D. Holgado	Kal	33
4	C. Vietti	Bos	32
5	D. Muñoz	Kal	26
6	S. Agius	Kal	25
7	D. Alonso	Kal	24
8	A. Escrig	For	23
9	A. Lopez	Kal	18.5
10	I. Ortola	Kal	17.5
11	T. Arbolino	Kal	16.5
12	C. Veijer	Kal	13.5
13	B. Baltus	Kal	13
14	A. Huertas	Kal	8
15	J. Roberts	Kal	7
16	A. Canet	Bos	5.5
17	D. Öncü	Bos	3.5
18	A. Sasaki	Kal	3
19	M. Aji	Kal	3
20	F. Salac	Kal	1
21	J. Rueda	Kal	1
22	A. Ferrandez	Bos	0.5
23	T. Furusato	Kal	0
24	S. Garcia	Kal	0
25	J. Navarro	For	0
26	D. Foggia	Bos	0
27	Z. vd Goorbergh	Kal	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