The Catalonia MotoGP GP plunged back into chaos after an accident involving Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, and Luca Marini right at the restart of the race. The incident caused the second red flag of Sunday in Barcelona.
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The race had already been stopped earlier due to the severe accident involving Pedro Acosta, Álex Márquez, and Fabio di Giannantonio. Márquez, a Gresini rider, was taken to the hospital for examinations, but MotoGP reported that the Spaniard was conscious after the fall.
With the initial stoppage, the race direction determined a new start for 13 laps, using the classification from the 11th lap as a reference. Thus, Acosta lined up again on pole, with Raúl Fernández in second and Jorge Martín closing the front row.
At the new start, Acosta managed to maintain the lead while Joan Mir surprised by jumping to second position. However, the main incident happened right behind, at the approach to turn 1.
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Bagnaia, Marini, and Zarco ended up touching and all three went off into the gravel. The race direction immediately stopped the race due to the situation on the track.
The accident was super dangerous. Johan Zarco gets his leg caught on Bagnaia’s bike
🙏 Let’s hope he is okay #MotoGP #CatalanGP
pic.twitter.com/mBLzTYxkL2— Speed Sector (@SpeedSectorF1) May 17, 2026
While Bagnaia and Marini managed to leave the scene on their own and quickly returned to the pits to try to participate in a new restart, Zarco needed medical attention. An ambulance was sent to the track to assist the Frenchman, who was already complaining of pain after having been previously hit by debris from Álex Márquez’s bike in the first accident of the race.
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