09:08
Good to see Aleix Espargaro here this weekend, as he continues to recover from injury from a crash earlier this year.
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
09:10
FP2 - Green flag
Pitlane is open for FP2. This session runs for 30 minutes.
09:01
Bikes on track in 10 minutes.
08:55
Pedro Acosta led the timesheets on Friday, in what was a very tight afternoon session.
But championship leader Marco Bezzecchi looks in a very good shape on race pace.
Take a look at our analysis from Friday while we wait for track action to get going this morning.
Why ending his Catalunya MotoGP curse is more important than ever for Marco Bezzecchi
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, 2026 Catalan MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
08:52
I'm very pleased to say that conditions are sunny and dry this morning at Barcelona.
08:51
MotoGP Catalunya: Qualifying build-up
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 2026 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix.
It's Saturday. We have qualifying. And we have a sprint.
Track action begins in 20 minutes with FP2, followed directly by qualifying.
Pecco Bagnaia, 2026 Catalan MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose