Guevara and Almansa on pole; new all-time lap records for both classes

· Izan Guevara took pole position in the Moto2™ race at the 2026 Grand Prix of Hungary with a time of 1’40.280, set on the penultimate of his seven laps. Behind him were Filip Salač and Senna Agius, both on Kalex. In qualifying, all riders used soft SC1 compound tyres at the front and supersoft SCX at the back. This is the first time the supersoft SCX is available at Balaton Park, with the soft SC0 being the softest rear tyre option available in 2025.

· Third pole position of the season for Almansa. The Spanish rider David Almansa (KTM), of the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP team, claimed pole in a 1’45.686 lap with soft SC1 compound tyres on both axles, unlike Máximo Quiles (KTM), who secured the second spot on the grid by relying on the medium SC2 compound on both front and back. Meanwhile, Brian Uriarte (KTM) set the third-fastest time in qualifying with a medium SC2 front and soft SC1 rear tyre combo. The varied options prove that all compounds available were equally effective.

· New all-time lap records. Both categories set new lap records in Saturday morning’s FP2. In Moto3™, Máximo Quiles (KTM) lapped in 1’45.148 using medium SC2 compound tyres on both axles, improving the record set by David Muñoz last year (1’45.700) by more than half a second, while in Moto2™ Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) set the new lap time at 1’39.313, 467 thousandths faster than Moreira’s 2025 record lap (1’40.380).

Significantly improved lap records in both classes
 
“The track conditions were less than ideal on Friday, and both the riders and the teams struggled with choosing the most effective set-up to boost the tyres grip performance. Even so, already on Friday afternoon’s Practice session, Gonzalez set a new Moto2™ lap record, which he conquered also thanks to the supersoft SCX rear compound, which was not available last season, on Balaton Park’s debut year.
Between yesterday and today, however, the circuit showed an important track evolution, and, as the sessions went on and more rubber was laid down on the asphalt, lap times dropped significantly, especially in Saturday morning’s FP2, when new lap records were set in both classes. In Moto3™, Quiles lowered last year’s lap time by more than half a second, and in Moto2™, Gonzales improved the previous record by almost five tenths. In qualifying, due to higher temperatures that made the track more slippery and affected the grip level, the riders were unable to improve the times set in the morning.
In view of tomorrow’s races, we expect a unanimous choice by all intermediate class riders, as the soft SC1 front and supersoft SCX rear combo has proven to be the most competitive yet. While in Moto3™ we do expect a more varied use of the options available, similarly to what we saw in qualifying, and we could see some riders on medium SC2 on both axles, while others may prefer the soft SC1 front and rear”.