What a colossal twist in the championship race at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan. Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) executed a truly flawless ride to take his second consecutive victory and his third of the 2026 season, dramatically slicing Manuel Gonzalez's (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) championship lead down to a razor-thin 10.5 points.
Before the red lights even went out, disaster struck on the front row. Gonzalez raised his hand to signal a clutch issue, forcing the championship leader to be wheeled away from the grid. The race did not wait, and the Moto2 Japanese Grand Prix got underway without him. Gonzalez eventually charged out of the pit lane nearly 30s behind the leader, leaving him to score zero points on a day where everything went wrong.
Out front, Guevara capitalised immediately. Starting from pole position, the Spaniard snatched the holeshot to lead Tony Arbolino (REDS Fantic Racing), Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team), Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – JP Financial – MSI), and the CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team pair of David Alonso and Daniel Holgado.
By Lap 9 of 19, the leading quintet had pulled 1.4s clear of a fading Holgado. Just 0.5s covered Guevara, Arbolino, and Salač at the head of the field, while Ortola and Alonso slipped slightly behind, sitting 0.9s adrift of the top three halfway through Lap 10. Further back, Celestino Vietti (BETA Tools SpeedRS Team) hammered in a hat-trick of fastest laps to hunt down Ortola and Alonso.
The pressure on Guevara was unrelenting. With three laps remaining, Arbolino made his move at Turn 9, diving up the inside of the leader. It was an optimistic lunge that ran wide on the exit, allowing Guevara to sweep right back through and slam the door shut. That single defensive masterclass bought Guevara breathing room, stretching his advantage to 0.5s as the field started the final lap.
No late heroics materialised, and Guevara cruised home to inflict maximum damage on the standings, slashing the gap from 35.5 points pre-race down to 10.5 as the series heads to Indonesia. Behind him, Arbolino ended a grueling 34-race podium drought in stunning style, while Salač bagged his fifth rostrum of the campaign in third.
Ivan Ortola successfully fended off Alonso and Vietti to secure fourth in a fiercely contested top-six scrap. Deniz Öncü (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) delivered his best finish of the season in P7, ahead of a fading Holgado in P8. Rounding out the top ten in Japan were Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) in ninth and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in tenth.
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