The Moto2 sessions at Lusail saw Daniel Holgado pick up the pace and break the 1’ 56s barrier for the first time at the circuit, ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

• Qatar MotoGP LIVE: Updates from Friday practice at Lusail

The Aspar rider, who showed great one lap pace at the last round in Malaysia, where he qualified on pole, was back to excelling at time attacks. First moving from eighth to first solo, the number 96 then perfected his run further, minutes later going on to set a new lap record on his Kalex – 1’ 55.897s – unmatched at the chequered flag.

Filip Salac came closest, chipping away to finish just 0.199s slower for American Racing.

Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez had been leading the session, with rival Izan Guevara now just 3.5 points behind in the overall standings, his fellow Spaniard was also catching him on track, as the Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha rider went from 20th to third, to leapfrog Gonzalez.

The Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider did move from fourth to second on his final run, but saw that lap cancelled for exceeding track limits, sending him back to fourth and behind Guevara on the opening day, who was again the best of the Boscoscuro riders in Practice.

Celestino Vietti cemented his fifth with a late personal best aboard the Speed RS Bike.

Senna Agius was a much improved sixth on the second Dynavolt bike, just ahead of Malaysia winner David Alonso, who was seventh on the second Aspar entry.

Collin Veijer was as high as third for Red Bull KTM Ajo but his time slipped back to eighth, the first rider over half a second away from the new record lap time.

Alonso Lopez was ninth quickest for Italjet Gresini, with Barry Baltus completing the top ten for Fantic Racing.

Jose Antonio Rueda was the top rookie on the second Red Bull KTM Ajo bike in 11th with the remaining Q2 places going to the Forward duo of Alex Escrig in 12th, again just a place ahead of his much improved team-mate Xabi Zurutuza, as had been the case in FP1, with Adrian Huertas 14th for Italtrans.

That saw some very capable rider left with a trip through Q1. Daniel Munoz just missed out in 15th on the second Italtrans entry, while after a positive FP1 QJMotor’s Ivan Ortola was off the pace enough to drop to 16th. A late personal best could only pull Joe Roberts up to 17th for American Racing, while SpeedRS rider Luca Lunetta put in some aggressive, late moves, notably on Ayumu Sasaki, to move forward but only up to 19th on the timesheets.

There was a fall for Angel Piqueras, which saw the QJMotor rider drop to 21st.

Matteo Ferrari (27th) continues to fill in for Sergio Garcia at Itajet Gresini in Qatar. 2025 race winner at Qatar,Aron Canet, was not replaced for the Qatar round by Marc VDS.

Moto2 Practice times:

Official Qatar Moto2 Records:
Fastest race lap: Sam Lowes (2023) 1’ 57.360s
Best Pole: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1’ 56.301s
Old all-time lap record: Manuel Gonzalez (2025) 1’ 56.301s
New all-time lap record: Daniel Holgado (2026, Practice) 1’ 55.897s

Free Practice 1

FP1 saw Holgado take over at the top of the timesheets, moving from third to first in the final minute of the session. The Aspar rider went ahead of Vietti, who had only just gone top himself.

Guevara had a spell leading the session before the duo lowered the benchmark, on his way to third, ahead of title rival Gonzalez, who was fourth.

The early top five was completed the top rookie in FP1, Lunetta, who stalked around behind Holgado as he went fastest. Early session leader Escrig, improved to sixth late on, the top Forward bike, just ahead of a much improved run from his team-mate Zurutuza, who was seventh, after shadowing Vietti on his best lap.

FP1 times can be found below.

Moto2 FP1 times: