Gonzalez takes home the Moto2™ race and Vietti sets a new lap record

· Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) won the Catalan GP, 6th round of the Moto2™ World Championship season. The Spanish rider secured his second win of the year and leads the standings, after finished ahead of Celestino Vietti and Izan Guevara, both on Boscoscuro. In a race held under partly cloudy skies with track temperatures peaking at 24°C, the vast majority of riders – 23 out of 27, including the top three – opted for the standard SC1 soft front tyres, while four riders went for the SC2 medium choice. Unanimous rear tyre choice, with all riders opting for the standard SC0 soft.

· Record-breaking SC0 After setting the all-time lap record at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during Saturday qualifying, Vietti repeated the feat in today’s race and improved the fastest race lap record. His 1’41.943 was 0.412 seconds faster than the previous benchmark set last year by Daniel Muñoz. The overall race time of 36’06.295 also marked a significant improvement compared to last year, being 15 seconds faster, 0.721 seconds shorter than the previous time recorded.

· Hat-trick for Quiles At the Moto3™ race, Máximo Quiles took home his third consecutive victory – and fourth out of six races – finishing ahead of Alvaro Carpe and David Muñoz, all riding KTM. While the front tyre choice was unanimous, with all 26 riders opting for the SC2 medium compound, the rear tyre selection was evenly split between the two available options: 15 riders used the SC1 soft (including Carpe), while 11 – including Quiles and Muñoz – relied on the SC2 medium. As in the intermediate class, race pace in Moto3™ also improved significantly, with the total race time 11 seconds faster and the average lap time 0.627 seconds faster than last year

Standard soft and medium compounds are highly competitive in both classes
 
“Sunday’s Catalan GP confirmed the progress we have seen in recent races, with very strong performance levels, even on a track that is particularly demanding on tyres, due to a highly abrasive surface and lower-than-average grip levels. In Moto2™, the improvement was clear both in terms of lap times and race distance, with the new race lap record lowered by four tenths and the overall race time improved by 15 seconds. While the winning riders went for the SC1 soft front and SC0 soft rear combos, even those who chose the SC2 medium front finished the race in leading positions, proving that it can equally be a strong race option.
Progress was also evident in the Moto3™ race, with an 11-second improvement compared to last year’s race time. While all riders selected the standard SC2 medium front – the best choice in terms of durability and continued performance in a demanding circuit such as Montmeló – rear tyre choices were almost evenly split between the SC1 soft and the SC2 medium. This decision is heavily influenced by bike setup and riding style, as both solutions proved to be competitive and effective, and the final podium shows it, with the winner and third-place finisher going for the standard medium, and the second-placed relying on the soft option”.