Why ending his Catalunya MotoGP curse is more important than ever for Marco Bezzecchi

There is little predictable about MotoGP. At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya two years ago, no one saw what would unfold for Jorge Martin in the wake of his 2024 title triumph. And even at this time last year, as he dealt with more injury problems and was trying to trigger an exit clause in his Aprilia deal, did it seem remotely fathomable that he’d be a title contender right now.

And yet, after winning the French Grand Prix last week, Martin’s title credentials are irrefutable, as he trails team-mate Marco Bezzecchi by just a single point ahead of the Catalan Grand Prix.

Barcelona has been a happy hunting ground for Aprilia in the past. But it was previously more of an outlier for its form. The low-grip asphalt, coupled with the fast, flowing layout, suited the RS-GP to the ground. The team celebrated a 1-2 in the 2023 Barcelona race, marking a first for a brand still figuring out how to take that last step toward becoming a true title contender.

Last week, it scored an historic first 1-2-3 in a display of strength for Aprilia, rather than an act of circumstance. It has been defeated just once on a Sunday so far, at the Spanish Grand Prix, as Jerez specialist Alex Marquez seized his opportunity on the Ducati.

A bad Sunday for Aprilia at this stage is a second, and not a very distant one either. For Marco Bezzecchi, a bad day is a second-place, with the Italian on a run of consecutive runner-up finishes following his trio of wins at the start of the campaign.

His flawed Saturdays are what has put him one point in range of Martin, who has two sprint victories to his credit, as well as another podium in the half-distance races.

The French Grand Prix delivered back a swagger Martin hadn’t shown since he climbed off his championship-winning Pramac Ducati at the end of 2024. But, as they so often seem to for the Spaniard, the tables turned quite viciously on him again on Friday at Barcelona.

He crashed at Turn 12 in FP1 left him knocked around; one Spanish report claimed he had a mild concussion. What happened in the crash wasn’t immediately clear from the television pictures, though he later revealed that he got tangled with his RS-GP as it ended its very short journey through the gravel trap to the air fence.

“The crash in Free Practice 1 was really bad,” Martin told Sky Italy, having fallen a second time in Practice, which consigned him to Q1 on Saturday morning. “I was stuck under the bike. It affected me a bit in the time attack: it took away my confidence in braking, but I'm fine. I'll use the extra session to better prepare for the races.”

Martin also admitted, when he spoke to the written media, that thoughts of the fatal accident that claimed Luis Salom’s life at Barcelona in 2016 rushed through his head as his body hurtled towards his stricken RS-GP.

It’s raised an uncomfortable question about Barcelona’s safety, but one Martin must put to the back of his mind as he looks to gain entry to Q2 on Saturday morning and try to course-correct his weekend from there.

At the same time, team-mate Bezzecchi must capitalise on Martin’s knocked confidence, as well as the strong race pace the championship leader displayed on Friday afternoon, to gain a crucial advantage back in their early title duel.

Bezzecchi has pace enough to end his bleak Catalunya record

While, until last year, Aprilia had a pretty strong record at Barcelona, Bezzecchi’s has been bleak throughout his time in MotoGP. He retired last season, was 11th in the 2024 Catalan Grand Prix, 12th in 2023 and failed to finish in 2022. His last podium came in Moto3 in 2018, the year he lost the title to Jorge Martin.

That’s not really the kind of record you want to be facing down as, all of a sudden, claims about your early-season domination are being severely tested by the media amid Martin’s resurgence.

In what was a tight afternoon session, Bezzecchi was seventh, but only 0.121s off the pace. He admits he expected more from his time attack, not least with Raul Fernandez fourth on the Trackhouse-run RS-GP.

But it’s on race pace where Bezzecchi is looking strong. He did so on the Friday at Le Mans, too, but admitted after the race he never actually expected to win. Based on a nine-lap representative stint, Bezzecchi’s pace on soft tyres was 1m39.976s, with a total of 15 laps going onto that rear compound.

That wasn’t out and out the fastest, but Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, while still encouragingly quick, was faster over a much shorter stint on a fresh soft rear. He, like a few, split his time between the soft and the medium in Practice. The VR46 rider had good one-lap speed, too, but all of this is irrelevant right now amid his struggles actually getting his GP26 off the line.

“I feel pretty good about my pace,” Bezzecchi said. “It's true that I honestly expected to do a little better in the time attack, but we're all really close together, a bit like at Le Mans. There's definitely still room for improvement, especially in T2 [sector two] where I was quite slow even on my good lap. My pace is perhaps slightly more competitive than in the time attack.”

Bezzecchi’s right to point out how tight it is. Currently, Aprilia, Ducati, KTM, Honda and even Yamaha have bikes that can qualify highly. Aprilia, Ducati and KTM also have bikes that are showing strong race pace.

What remains to be seen at Barcelona is how the track evolves over the rest of the weekend, and what that will mean for tyre life. It’s a track that punishes tyres. Though we’re here slightly earlier in the year than normal, there was still a noticeable drop-off across runs on a tyre throughout Practice.

If this does become a tyre life race, Aprilia seems well placed to capitalise on that, either through its ability to fire up its tyres early on and break free, or in how gentle the RS-GP tends to be on its rubber; Martin and Ai Ogura’s charge through the field at Le Mans is testament to that.

Of course, Ogura and Martin must go through Q1 on Saturday morning, and given how tight it was in Practice (0.8s covering the top 19), getting out of that session and into a much more favourable grid position will be no small task.

Ducati relying on its satellite runners as Pecco Bagnaia struggles again

It wouldn’t be fair to suggest that, had Marc Marquez not fractured his foot at the French Grand Prix, Ducati would be relying on him to deliver it something big in Barcelona. Even at full fitness, it’s not a circuit the seven-time world champion has favoured, let alone when battling a nerve issue.

Even so, Ducati really needs Pecco Bagnaia to step up, if for nothing else than to rally morale within a factory team that has been soundly bloodied across the 2026 campaign so far. It is still without a podium since last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, its barren spell stretching to 10 rounds now.

Coming to a circuit he has two wins at in the past off the back of a positive weekend at Le Mans, where he was on pole, on the podium in the sprint and in the rostrum battle in the grand prix before crashing, it’s not unfair to have expected more from Bagnaia on Friday at Barcelona.

Instead, he is in Q1 after finishing 12th in Practice and was a good half a second down in long-running pace compared to Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio.

The double world champion explained that he can’t make the difference he used to at Barcelona because he doesn’t currently have the traction he needs on the GP26. Given what happened last year, when he was 21st on the grid, he’s not as worried about his current position.

But Ducati, like at Jerez, return to Spain looking to Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez to deliver it with strong result. Neither did particularly long runs on Friday afternoon, so their pace is not as clear-cut as that of Bezzecchi’s, for example.

Of the two, Alex Marquez has to be the favourite to find a step. Winner in Barcelona last year, it’s a circuit that suits his riding style on the Ducati. He admitted after Practice that the track conditions made it hard to find the feeling he needed, particularly on the entry to fast corners, where he typically excels.

If he can find what he needs, over one lap he’s there. Just 0.018s off Pedro Acosta’s session-topping lap, Marquez says he caught yellow flags on his final flying laps. So, there’s already more in the tank with his current package than what he showed on Friday, which is massively encouraging.