MotoGP experienced a chaotic Sunday in Catalonia, and Francesco Bagnaia left Barcelona with an unexpected podium. The Ducati Lenovo rider officially finished third after a race marked by two red flags, heavy crashes, and a lot of confusion on the grid.
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The victory went to Fabio Di Giannantonio of the VR46 Racing Team, while Fermín Aldeguer completed the Ducati one-two in second place. Bagnaia inherited third place after the final result was adjusted post-race.
The Italian was involved, without fault, in the crash that caused the second stoppage of the race. Even after the heavy impact, Bagnaia managed to return for the final restart and quickly advanced to third place still on the first lap of the shortened 12-lap race.
Despite the good start, the Ducati rider began to suffer the physical effects of the crash. “I am in pain and a bit dizzy. It was a big hit, but nothing compared to what happened to the others,” he said. Bagnaia also revealed that the moment was traumatic after realizing Johann Zarco was trapped on the bike during the incident.
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The Italian explained that he did not expect to fight for the top positions at the restart because he had to use a practically unknown bike equipped with used tires. “After three laps my head started spinning and all I could do was go into survival mode,” he highlighted.
Even satisfied with the podium, Bagnaia admitted that the result came under unusual circumstances. “This is not how we want to achieve a podium, especially considering how hard the team is working. We need to keep improving,” said the Ducati Lenovo rider, who now occupies eighth place in the championship with 63 points after the sixth round of the 2026 season.
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