Pedro Acosta conquered the pole position for the Catalonia GP, the sixth round of the 2026 MotoGP season. In the final phase of qualifying held this Saturday (16) at the Barcelona Circuit, Spain, the KTM rider, who had already been the fastest on Friday, recorded 1min38s068 to secure the honor position for both the Sprint, scheduled shortly, and the main race this Sunday.
Read more MotoGP: Check out the starting grid for the Catalonia GP
The second position on the starting grid went to Franco Morbidelli, fastest in Q1 with the VR46 Ducati and who finished 0.233 seconds behind Acosta’s time. Álex Márquez, with the Gresini Ducati, completes the front row in third place. Raúl Fernández, with the Trackhouse Aprilia, starts fourth, followed by Johann Zarco, with an LCR Honda. Fabio Di Giannantonio, Morbidelli’s teammate, rounds out the top 6.
Fabio Quartararo, with a Yamaha, opens the third row after finishing qualifying seventh, while Brad Binder, from KTM, secured eighth position. Championship runner-up and winner in France last week, Jorge Martín, who suffered a crash in Q1, starts ninth with the Aprilia. Joan Mir, with a Honda, starts tenth, just ahead of Jack Miller, 11th with the Pramac Yamaha. MotoGP leader Marco Bezzecchi is 12th with the Aprilia.
Among those eliminated in the initial round, notable are Francesco Bagnaia, who was the third best with the Ducati and will start from 13th position, and Ai Ogura, eighth in Q1 with the Trackhouse Aprilia and 18th on the grid. The only Brazilian on the grid, Diogo Moreira will start from 20th position after finishing tenth with the LCR Honda.
Qualifying in Barcelona featured crashes. With three minutes remaining in Q1, Toprak Razgatlioglu fell with the Pramac Yamaha, missing the session. Moments later, Jorge Martín, who had switched to the reserve bike, also crashed with the Aprilia. Fermín Aldeguer, with the Gresini Ducati, was another who ended up on the ground.
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In Q2, with four minutes left before the end of qualifying, championship leader Marco Bezzecchi crashed with the Aprilia at turn 2. This crash left the Italian with only the last position in the final phase of the activity that defined the starting positions at the circuit located in Montmeló.
The Sprint at the Barcelona Circuit will take place from 10 a.m. The Catalonia MotoGP GP will be contested this Sunday (17), starting at 9 a.m.
Check out the starting grid:
1st – Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) – 1min38s068
2nd – Franco Morbidelli (ITA/VR46-Ducati) – 1min38s301
3rd – Álex Márquez (ESP/Gresini-Ducati) – 1min38s342
4th – Raúl Fernández (ESP/Trackhouse-Aprilia) – 1min38s453
5th – Johann Zarco (FRA/LCR-Honda) – 1min38s474
6th – Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/VR46-Ducati) – 1min38s477
7th – Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) – 1min38s511
8th – Brad Binder (AFS/KTM) – 1min38s597
9th – Jorge Martín (ESP/Aprilia) – 1min38s652
10th – Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) – 1min38s686
11th – Jack Miller (AUS/Pramac-Yamaha) – 1min38s773
12th – Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Aprilia) – 1min38s785
13th – Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) – 1min38s752
14th – Enea Bastianini (ITA/Tech3-KTM) – 1min38s797
15th – Fermín Aldeguer (ESP/Gresini-Ducati) – 1min38s851
16th – Luca Marini (ITA/Honda) – 1min39s011
17th – Maverick Viñales (ESP/Tech3-KTM) – 1min39s071
18th – Ai Ogura (JAP/Trackhouse-Aprilia) – 1min39s212
19th – Álex Rins (ESP/Yamaha) – 1min39s280
20th – Diogo Moreira (BRA/LCR-Honda) – 1min39s324
21st – Augusto Fernández (ESP/Yamaha) – 1min39s876
22nd – Toprak Razgatriolgu (TUR/Pramc-Yamaha) – 1min42s945
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