Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1546567
ROUND 14 / SEPTEMBER 11-13, 2026 MISANO WORLD CIRCUIT MARCO SIMONCELLI ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP P86 Filip Salac (ART Kalex) was the race's fastest rider but retired after a trip through the turn-10 gravel on lap nine. Even though still recovering from damaged shoulder tendons sustained at Brno, Baltus held firm for a maiden podium in a troubled 2026 campaign. Ortola, Arbolino and Guevara filled out the top six. Gonzalez (232.5 points) stretched his lead out to 47.5 points over Guevara (185) with Ortola (157.5) climbing to third. Moto3 Moto3 offered a strange anomaly. Despite leading each and every one of the race's 320 corners, David Almansa (IntactGP KTM) contrived to finish second as Maximo Quiles (Aspar KTM) pipped him to the line to score his eighth win of the year. of an open goal to cement his champion-in-waiting status. He duly obliged, passing Veijer for the lead on lap five. And while his lead remained just below seven-tenths of a second for 17 laps, the Dutchman eventually accepted second place in the closing stages with team manager Niklas Ajo's instructions not to crash still ringing in his ears. This brought to a close Veijer's unwelcome run of falling from the past two races. For a while Baltus pressed the lead pair at one of his favorite tracks. But the Belgian was handed a long-lap penalty on lap 13 for exceeding track limits, which immediately put him on the defensive from an intense scrap, which included Ortola, Tony Arbolino (Fantic Kalex), Izan Guevara (Pramac Boscoscuro) and Celestino Vietti (SpeedRS Boscoscuro). dramatically altered just one corner in when fellow front-row starter Angel Piqueras (MSI Kalex) tagged him and Dani Holgado (Aspar Kalex) as they peeled into turn one, taking all three down and impacting Agius and Holgado's championship hopes in the process. That cleared the way for Collin Veijer (Ajo Kalex) and Manuel Gonzalez (IntactGP Kalex) to attack at the front while Ivan Ortola (MSI Kalex), Alonso Lopez (Gresini Kalex) and Barry Baltus (Fantic Kalex) contested third. After mishaps at Silverstone and disappointment in Aragon, Gonzalez knew he had to seize his chance here. With fellow title contender Izan Guevara (Pramac Boscoscuro) demoted to 14th on the grid after some brainless riding during qualifying, this was something Manuel Gonzalez (18) struck when he most needed, capitalizing on his rival's misfortunes to pad out a title lead that had been progressively declining over the last few rounds.