14/09/2025

Intact GP duel in Misano: Agius shines with fifth place – Gonzalez defends World Championship lead

Senna Agius and Manuel Gonzalez fought an exciting internal team battle at the San Marino Grand Prix at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Agius impressed with his strong pace and secured fifth place ahead of his teammate Gonzalez, who was able to further extend his World Championship lead despite physical problems during the race.

After the start of the 22-lap race, Senna Agius immediately gained two positions and slotted in directly behind his teammate. While Celestino Vietti and Daniel Holgado pulled away at the front, a hard-fought chasing group developed behind them, which included the two Intact GP riders as well as Barry Baltus and Diogo Moreira. In the final stages, the Australian seized the opportunity to briefly move up to fourth place, but had to relinquish it again after a mistake on the penultimate lap. With fifth place, the 20-year-old takes home a strong eleven points, which sees him climb from tenth to eighth in the World Championship standings. He will continue his campaign at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi from 26th to 28th of September.

Manuel Gonzalez once again demonstrated his fighting spirit at Misano. Despite physical problems in the final laps, the Spaniard secured sixth place and collected important points for the World Championship. The race initially went according to plan for him. After a strong start, he quickly found his rhythm and positioned himself in the leading group. Thrilling battles for position with Diogo Moreira cost him time, allowing the front-runners to pull away. In the final third of the race, the 23-year-old gradually lost strength in his right arm and shoulder, which affected his braking and cornering. He gave it his all in the duel with his teammate, but ultimately crossed the finish line behind him in sixth place. With his experienced crew, Gonzalez is now looking forward to the 17th race of the season in Japan, where he will be back to attack.

Results

Race
1. Celestino VIETTI/ ITA/ BOSCOSCURO
2. Barry BALTUS/ BEL/ KALEX – (+0.747)
3. Daniel HOLGADO/ SPA/ KALEX – (+3.911)
5. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – (+7.973)
6. Manuel GONZALEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – (+8.394)

World Championship
1. GONZALEZ Manuel/ SPA – 227
2. MOREIRA Diogo – 188
3. CANET Aron/ SPA – 188
8. AGIUS Senna/ AUS – 104

Team Classification
1. FANTIC RACING LINO SONEGO – 361
2. LIQUI MOLY DYNAVOLT INTACT GP – 331
3. ELF MARC VDS RACING TEAM – 231

Senna Agius

P5 - (+7.973)
Moto2 World Championship 2025 - P8 - 104 Points

"It was a good race, I can't complain. Fourth place would have been the best I could have hoped for today. Maybe even a little better, because I saw the podium and relived that feeling I've been missing over the last months. But I got a little kick from behind and ended up on the kerbs, where I almost lost control of the front on the outside. I almost had a serious crash because it was at a fast place. Fifth place at the end is good, and we've made up a little ground in the championship, which is nice. That's the goal for the next races, as we've had a good restart with everything. By that I mean myself, the team, and the way of work style. We've had some bad luck in recent months, which has been really tough. That's why I'm very happy with this result, even though it's definitely not what we want, as we've been better before. But this fifth place is very important to me personally, not only for me, but also for my guys on our side of the pit. A big thank you to the team, they are doing a fantastic job."

Manuel Gonzalez

P6 - (+8.394)
Moto2 World Championship 2025 - P1 - 227 Points

"The race started more or less according to our plan. I had a good start and felt comfortable with the bike. Then the others slowed down a bit from one lap to the next, and I thought to myself, now I have to overtake. But the rider in front of me wasn't easy to overtake, and the leaders pulled away while we lost a lot of time with several overtaking manoeuvres. Eventually, however, I managed to overtake him. I was also able to maintain a good pace, similar to the leaders. When Baltus overtook me, he was very fast. So, my plan was to follow him to maybe catch up with the leading group. But in the last seven or eight laps, I completely lost strength in my right arm and right shoulder. That forced me to take the right-hand corner differently when braking and turning in, which cost me a lot of time. That's why the riders behind me caught up with me. In the last laps I suffered a lot; it was a very long race for me. I'm a little sad because we had a really good bike that could have secured us a place on the podium. Our speed was strong, and the bike felt really good too. We fought really well. But we also have to look at the positives because we extended our lead in the championship by another point. Now we're heading to Asia, which I'm really looking forward to because I always have good races there. On these tracks, the differences between the riders are greater and the conditions are more difficult. So, it depends a bit more on the rider than on a good bike. I'm really looking forward to it and will try to keep up the pressure."

Jürgen Lingg

Team Manager

"Misano was another very good weekend. Both our riders performed strongly in qualifying. They also got off to a good start and for a long time it looked as though one of them would finish on the podium, as both Manu and Senna had a strong pace. Unfortunately, Manu later encountered problems with his right shoulder. We don't yet know the exact cause of this. In any case, he had to slow down a bit towards the end. We hope it's just a slight strain that will go away on its own. Manu also said that he had similar problems here two years ago, so we hope it's due to the track’s layout. Nevertheless, it was important that he secured sixth place. That's exactly what you have to do in our position. He even extended his lead in the World Championship, albeit by just one point. We went into this weekend with the attitude that if we took this lead to the oversea tour, we will already have one race less, and we are more than happy with that. We achieved that, even though more would have been possible today. So, we're taking the positives with us and we're also confident that Manu will be fully fit again in two weeks and that his shoulder will be working perfectly again. Then the situation will be different. What's more, our team has always stepped up a gear in oversea. We hope that will be the case again this time."

"Senna also did a very strong race. Unfortunately, he was held up a bit in the early laps. But once he found a way to pass his opponents and had a clear track ahead of him, his pace was incredibly strong. He was clearly on his way to a podium finish. In the end, he really caught up. Unfortunately, he made a small mistake that cost him what seemed like a sure podium finish. But these things happen because he pushed himself to the limit and was determined to get on the podium. Nevertheless, fifth place is a great result, which he deserves after all the bad luck he's had in recent races. Senna and his team have earned it. You can also see that he's back to full fitness. I think we can look forward to the upcoming races overseas!"

Pictures Moto2 - Sunday San Marino GP 2025

Back