Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing, 2026 Catalan MotoGP
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing, 2026 Catalan MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
LIVE

MotoGP Catalunya LIVE: Acosta on pole, Bezzecchi and Martin crash in qualifying

Live coverage of qualifying and the sprint at the 2026 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix

KEY MOMENTS

  • Sprint is at 2pm BST
  • Acosta on pole, Bezzecchi crashes
  • Bagnaia only 13th
  • Joan Mir led FP2, Zarco crashed

The 2026 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix, the sixth round of the season, continues on Saturday 16 May with qualifying and the sprint. 

Pedro Acosta put KTM on top of the Friday practice for the 2026 Catalan MotoGP at Barcelona on Friday, ahead of defending winner Alex Marquez.

Brad Binder made it two RC16s in the top three, with Raul Fernandez the leading Aprilia rider in fourth and Johann Zarco top Honda in fifth.

But the big shock of the day was Jorge Martin. The French Grand Prix winner suffered a heavy crash in FP1, and looked off-colour on Friday afternoon in Practice. 

A second fall late in the session left him outside of the top 10 and facing Q1 for the first time this season. It ends the French Grand Prix winner's 100% Q2 appearance record this year.

He will join Pecco Bagnaia - who was on pole at Le Mans - in Q1 on Saturday morning, as well as Ai Ogura - who was third in the French Grand Prix - who crashed in Practice.

The top two at the end of Q1 on Saturday morning will advance to Q2 and fight for pole position. 

Qualifying will be followed by the sprint later on Saturday afternoon. 

2026 Catalan MotoGP: Saturday schedule

FP2 - 9:10am BST - 9:40am BST

Q1 - 9:50am BST - 10:05am BST

Q2 - 10:15am BST - 10:30am BST

Sprint - 2pm BST

16 May 2026
10:04
Crash - Fermin Aldeguer

Aldeguer has now gone down, again at Turn 5. That's three riders down there now.

10:04

Morbidelli faces a nervous wait. He was knocked down to second, but Morbidelli's session-topping lap was cancelled for exceeding track limits. 

10:03
Crash - Jorge Martin

Jorge Martin has crashed again! 

10:03

Martin, meanwhile, sets the best time of the weekend with a 1m38.701s, though he's only 0.096s clear of Bastianini.

10:02
Crash - Toprak Razgatlioglu

Razgatlioglu has gone down with three minutes to go at Turn 5. He'll be last on the grid. 

10:01

He's set an identical 1m38.797s to Bastianini. Literally nothing splitting them right now.

10:00

Martin doesn't look very comfortable on this flying lap. Though he does recover it to get to second!

09:59

Sounds like there may have been a bike issue for Ogura on his first machine, which would explain why he's 1.1s down in 11th.

09:58

Razgatlioglu has gone off at Turn 4 on his outlap. 

09:57

Martin has pointed towards his second bike as he comes back to his Aprilia garage. 

Eight minutes to go. 

09:56

Standings: 

  1. Bastianini
  2. Morbidelli
  3. Bagnaia
  4. Marini
  5. Vinales
  6. Aldeguer
  7. Moreira
  8. Martin
  9. Rins
  10. A.Fernandez
  11. Ogura
  12. Razgatlioglu
09:55

It's all change at the top again. Bastianini improves to a 1m38.797s ahead of Morbidelli, 0.047s splitting them. 

Bagnaia down to third, Martin 18th. 

09:54

Just 0.075s covering the top two at this stage. 

09:54

First laps on the board. Bastianini leads the way with a 1m39.130s from Bagnaia. Martin only fourth. 

09:51

The all-time lap record here is a 1m37.5s. We were over a second from that yesterday. 

09:50
MotoGP Catalunya: Q1 - green flag

The opening segment of qualifying is underway.

09:49
Catalunya MotoGP: FP2 Results

2026 MotoGP Catalunya - Saturday Practice Results

Joan Mir, 2026 Catalan MotoGP.
Joan Mir, 2026 Catalan MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
09:47

There were barely three tenths covering the top 10 at the end of Practice yesterday. 

So, this Q1 session is going to be a tight one. 

Big names in here are, of course, Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia. But watch for Ai Ogura and Enea Bastianini. 

The Honda has looked decent over one lap this weekend, too. 

09:46
MotoGP Catalunya: Who is in Q1?
Enea BastianiniITARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)
Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP26)
Ai OguraJPNTrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26)
Diogo MoreiraBRAPro Honda LCR (RC213V)*
Franco MorbidelliITAPertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25)
Fermin AldeguerSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25)
Jorge MartinSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP26)
Luca MariniITAHonda HRC Castrol (RC213V)
Toprak RazgatliogluTURPramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)*
Maverick VinalesSPARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)
Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)
Augusto FernandezSPAYamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1)
09:41
FP2 - Chequered flag

Chequered flag is out for FP2. Joan Mir ends the session fastest with a 1m39.425s. 

Qualifying up next!

09:23

Sounds like Pecco Bagnaia has been flipping between aero packages this weekend.

Di Giannantonio on the newer Ducati aero update today. 

09:20

Standings after 10 minutes of FP2:

  1. Mir
  2. Acosta
  3. Marquez
  4. Bagnaia
  5. Moreira
  6. Martin
  7. Binder
  8. Aldeguer
  9. Quartararo
  10. Bezzecchi
09:19

A replay of Zarco's crash.

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09:13
Crash - Johann Zarco

Johann Zarco has crashed at the last corner as he was starting his first flying lap. 

This happened last week at Le Mans and it destroyed his confidence for the rest of the weekend. 

He's up and ok, but a terrible start to his morning. 

09:10
FP2 - Green flag

Pitlane is open for FP2. This session runs for 30 minutes. 

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