Fabio Di Giannantonio won this Sunday (17) a crash-filled Catalan GP, the sixth round of the 2026 MotoGP season. In a race that featured two red flags at the Circuit de Barcelona, Spain, the Ducati VR46 rider took the lead on the penultimate lap to win for the first time this season.
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Second place went to Joan Mir, who brought Honda to the podium by finishing just over a second behind Di Giannantonio. Fermín Aldeguer, with a Gresini Ducati, completed the podium in third place, followed by Francesco Bagnaia, fourth with the Ducati. The top 5 also included Marco Bezzecchi, championship leader and Aprilia rider.
Fabio Quartararo, with Yamaha, finished sixth, followed by Luca Marini, seventh with Honda. Brad Binder, who started from the pits after having problems with KTM, was eighth, while Ai Ogura, fourth on track, finished ninth with the Trackhouse Aprilia after being involved in an incident with Pedro Acosta, who led most of the race with KTM. Diogo Moreira was tenth with an LCR Honda, achieving his best result of the season.
The race was marked by a serious accident involving Álex Márquez, who after failing to avoid Pedro Acosta’s bike, which had problems on his KTM on lap 12. The two were battling for the lead. Márquez’s Gresini Ducati suffered a heavy impact and flipped several times, with debris hitting another Ducati, that of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who also fell. The red flag was immediately shown. Márquez was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
At the restart, another accident caused a new red flag. This time, Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco, and Luca Marini crashed right at the first corner of the Spanish circuit. The French LCR Honda rider had to be taken to the medical center after being
MotoGP continues the 2026 season on May 31, with the Italian GP at Mugello.
Check out how the race went
The Catalan GP started with a temperature of 20°C in Montmeló and asphalt at 33ºC. Before the start, Brad Binder abandoned the grid with problems on his KTM, starting from the pits. The race began with Pedro Acosta maintaining the first position in the initial meters, being heavily pressured by Raúl Fernández and Álex Márquez. Diogo Moreira advanced from 20th to 15th position.
Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín started dueling for fourth place but scattered in one of the corners, allowing Franco Morbidelli to move up to fourth. The LCR Frenchman soon regained fourth place, while Martín passed the VR46 rider, returning to fifth. On the second lap, Ai Ogura, who started 18th, was already in 12th.
Unable to keep up with Acosta at the start of the battle, Fernández led a pack that included Márquez and Zarco on the third lap. The Frenchman gave a “push” to the Spaniard on the third lap to move up to third place, while the Gresini rider was also overtaken by Martín, dropping to fifth.
Martín, with a stronger pace, overtook Zarco at the start of the fourth lap, taking third place. The Frenchman was also overtaken by Márquez moments later, dropping to fifth. Up front, Acosta saw Fernández close in on the fourth lap, managing to overtake to take the lead at the start of the fifth lap.
In the mid-pack, Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi started dueling for seventh place but were already far from Fabio Di Giannantonio, in sixth. The championship leader made a mistake and fell to 11th position. Márquez overtook Martín to take third place on the sixth lap.
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Fernández was pressured again by Acosta on the seventh lap, who was not pressured by Márquez, more than a second behind. The Gresini rider, in turn, opened seven tenths on Martín, the fourth-placed rider. Behind, Moreira was in 15th after overtaking Fabio Quartararo, entering the points zone in the latter part of the seventh lap.
Di Giannantonio passed Zarco to take fifth place on the eighth lap, while Márquez began closing in on the race leaders. On the ninth lap, Acosta passed Fernández, regaining the race lead, while the Spaniard from Gresini moved up to second a lap later, relegating the Trackhouse rival to third.
Enea Bastianini was the first rider to crash in the race, which happened on the tenth lap. Márquez launched an attack on Acosta on lap 12 but saw the KTM rider maintain the lead. A very serious accident occurred shortly after with Márquez, who had contact with Acosta after the KTM experienced problems. Márquez fell and his bike, which was destroyed, knocked down Di Giannantonio. The red flag was shown.
Minutes later, race control deemed all grid riders eligible except Bastianini, who crashed a few laps earlier, and Márquez. The race would have 13 more laps. An ambulance left the track after attending the scene, and Márquez was taken to the hospital. All riders were conscious after the accident.
The new grid had Acosta in the lead, followed by Fernández and Martín. Moreira restarted from 14th position. The new start saw Acosta maintain the lead, with Joan Mir moving up to second, followed by Martín. At the first corner, Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco, and Luca Marini crashed after the Frenchman missed the braking at turn 1 and hit the rivals. The red flag was shown once again, with Zarco being attended by doctors.
A new start procedure was initiated, with the grid this time having the front row again formed by Acosta, Fernández, and Martín. Moreira, once again, would start from 14th position. Acosta, once again, kept the lead, followed by Martín and Fernández. Mir appeared in fourth, followed by Bagnaia. Moreira advanced to 11th position.
Martín crashed in the second sector of the track, leaving the fight for the win in a move that delayed Fernández, who dropped to 18th position. The Aprilia rider returned to the race. On the second lap after the race resumed, Mir started pressuring Acosta for the race lead. Further back, on the fourth lap, Di Giannantonio launched an attack on Bagnaia for third place.
With four laps to go, Di Giannantonio overtook Bagnaia to take third position. In the mid-pack, Ogura passed Quartararo and took sixth place. Diogo Moreira, meanwhile, was tenth at the start of the sixth lap. Fermín Aldeguer overtook Bagnaia on the seventh lap, taking fourth place.
With five laps remaining, Di Giannantonio passed Mir, who was pressuring Acosta, and took second place. The VR46 Italian soon launched an attack on the KTM Spaniard for the race lead, while Ogura was another to pass Bagnaia, entering the top 5. The Ducati Italian began to be attacked by Bezzecchi.
With three laps to go, Di Giannantonio passed Acosta to take first position. At the start of the final lap, Mir and Aldeguer passed Acosta, who dropped to fourth. On the final lap, the KTM rider crashed after contact with Ogura, abandoning the race. Di Giannantonio won the race.
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