MotoGP Catalunya LIVE: Race updates as Pedro Acosta seeks first win from pole

KEY MOMENTS

• Race starts at 1pm BST
• Pedro Acosta starts on pole
• Marco Bezzecchi leads the championship by two points

The 2026 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix takes place today, Sunday 17 May, with Pedro Acosta looking to convert pole position into a maiden victory in the premier class. 

The factory KTM rider snatched pole on Saturday to end his two-year drought, as well as a six-year wait for the Austrian manufacturer's works team, to lead the field in qualifying. 

He narrowly missed out on a second sprint success of the season, after Gresini Ducati's Alex Marquez beat him by 0.041s on Saturday afternoon at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. 

Marquez will be going for back-to-back Barcelona grand prix victories, though he admitted after the sprint that he didn't feel like he was the favourite given the lack of front-end feeling he was having on his GP26. 

He will go from third on the grid this afternoon, while VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli starts second. 

Aprilia will be hoping for a better day, after Jorge Martin crashed out of the sprint, bringing his total of falls to four for the weekend so far. 

That offered a reprieve for team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, who maintained his championship lead despite struggling to ninth. His points gap is now two ahead of Sunday's grand prix. 

There are no penalties affecting the grid order.

2026 Catalan MotoGP: Sunday schedule

Race (25 laps) - 1pm BST