Manuel Gonzalez earned pole position during Moto2 World Championship qualifying Saturday at Chang International Circuit, in Thailand. Riding his Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex on Pirelli control tires, the Spaniard turned a 1:34.634 to top the field of 28 riders.
Italian rider, Celestino Vietti was second-best with a 1:34.670 on his Team HDR Heidrun Boscoscuro.
Spaniard Aron Canet claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:34.839 on his Fantic Racing Lino Song Kalex.
American Joe Roberts was 27th on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
On song Gonzalez grabs Buriram pole. The Spaniard edges out Q1 graduate Vietti in an intensely fought first Moto2 fight for pole position of 2025.
Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) is your first Moto2™ polesitter of the season as the Spaniard converted his impressive Test and Thai GP Practice pace into a Saturday afternoon P1. Celestino Vietti (Team HDR Heidrun) came through Q1 to grab P2 and land a lap just 0.036s off Gonzalez’s 1:34.634, with Aron Canet (Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO) 0.205s shy of pole in P3.
The bulk of the fastest laps came once the riders had slotted fresh rubber into their Triumph-powered machines, with four tenths of the second splitting the fastest nine riders in Q2. Behind the leading trio comes Senna Agius as Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP see their riders spearhead Row 1 and 2 for the opening race of the season – a top job from the Australian sophomore.
Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO) and Darryn Binder (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) – the South African also coming through Q1 – will launch from P5 and P6 respectively. Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) notched up his best time late on, the British rider starts P8 behind seventh place Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing) and ahead of ninth quickest Alonso Lopez (Team HDR Heidrun).
Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) completed the top 10, while Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) acted as the fastest rookie – the Spaniard launches from P15, just behind 14th place Mario Aji (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia).
Tune into the opening Moto2™ race of the season, from Thailand, at 13:15 local time (UTC+7).