Álex Márquez won the Sprint race of the Catalonia GP this Saturday (16), the sixth round of the 2026 MotoGP season. The Gresini rider, a satellite team of Ducati, started from second position, took the lead by overtaking Pedro Acosta, and had to fend off attacks from the KTM rider to secure first place at the Barcelona Circuit.
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Second place went to Acosta, who started from pole position and dropped to fourth before recovering in the final laps. Fabio Di Giannantonio, riding a VR46 Ducati, crossed the finish line in third, followed by Raúl Fernández, fourth with an Aprilia from Trackhouse. Johann Zarco, from LCR Honda, was fifth.
Francesco Bagnaia finished sixth with an official Ducati, followed by Franco Morbidelli, seventh with another Ducati, this one from VR46. Ai Ogura, who started 18th, finished eighth with the Aprilia from Trackhouse, while Marco Bezzecchi, also on an Aprilia, was ninth and closed the points zone. Enea Bastianini, on a Tech3 KTM, was tenth.
The only Brazilian on the grid, Diogo Moreira finished 14th on an LCR Honda bike. Meanwhile, Jorge Martín, championship runner-up and Aprilia rider, crashed and retired from the race.
The MotoGP Catalonia GP will be held this Sunday (17), starting at 9 a.m.
Check out how the race went
The Sprint in Barcelona started with Pedro Acosta maintaining first position, despite pressure from Álex Márquez and Johann Zarco, with the Frenchman from LCR Honda moving up to second place. Brad Binder and Joan Mir crashed right at the first corner and left the race. Diogo Moreira gained five positions on the opening lap and appeared in 15th.
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Still on the first lap, Márquez regained second place from Zarco, while Jorge Martín began battling for fourth place with Raúl Fernández, who held the position. The championship runner-up was then overtaken on the second lap by Fabio Di Giannantonio, dropping to sixth. Marco Bezzecchi, meanwhile, was in eighth.
Márquez launched an attack on Acosta on the third lap but initially failed to overtake. Martín, on the other hand, crashed in the last sector of the track and left the points battle. On the fourth lap, Márquez took the lead by overtaking at the end of the pit straight.
Acosta tried to stay close to Márquez but was also overtaken by Raúl Fernández, dropping to third. On the seventh lap, Maverick Viñales headed to the pits with bike problems. At the front, Di Giannantonio started pressuring Acosta for third place, with both in the leading group. Further back, Moreira was in 14th.
Under pressure from Di Giannantonio, Acosta attacked and overtook Fernández to take second place with four laps remaining. At this point, Márquez had a six-tenths lead over his rivals. Two laps later, Di Giannantonio also passed Fernández, taking third place.
Ai Ogura’s performance was notable, starting 18th and moving up to tenth on the penultimate lap. On the final lap, the Japanese rider took ninth place, entering the points zone. Up front, Acosta launched an attack on Márquez but saw the Gresini rider hold first place to win in Barcelona.
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