13:12
Bezzecchi is now behind Bagnaia. He's 12th. He's losing the championship lead right now!
Pedro Acosta, KTM Factory Racing, 2026 Catalan MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
MotoGP Catalunya LIVE: Reaction after race overshadowed by major crashes
Lap by lap updates from the 2026 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Fabio Di Giannantonio wins shortened race
- Martin taken out by Fernandez
- Zarco involved in serious Turn 1 crash
- Alex Marquez in hospital after serious crash
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
17 May 2026
13:13
Lap 7/24
Another lap done. Acosta retakes the lead at Turn 1, but runs wide and lets the Trackhouse Aprilia through again.
13:12
Bezzecchi ran wide at Turn 10, which is why he lost positions.
13:11
Lap 6/24
Fernandez leads Acosta to start lap six.
Marquez is 1.1s behind Acosta.
13:11
Bezzecchi has just lost a load of positions. He's down to 11th now.
13:10
Contact between Martin and Marquez on lap one.
13:10
But this battle has cast that group a second behind the leading duo.
13:10
Marquez gets ahead of Martin at Turn 1, too, for third.
13:09
Fernandez takes the lead at Turn 1!
13:09
Lap 5/24
Onto lap five and Acosta has Fernandez breathing down his neck!
13:08
Marquez eases through on Zarco at Turn 4, but runs wide. He gets the move done at Turn 5, though. That's fourth.
13:08
Martin moves up to third on Zarco at Turn 1.
13:08
Lap 4/24
Onto lap four and Fernandez is coming back towards Acosta. Gap is 0.4s at the start of this lap.
13:07
Zarco shoves Marquez wide at Turn 5 and now Martin comes through. Marquez back to fifth. Zarco into third.
13:06
Lap 3/24
Acosta leads onto lap three by 0.7s from Fernandez.
Martin is the fastest rider on track.
Marquez tries to get second back but Fernandez defends into Turn 1.
13:06
Acosta is trying to break away early here.
13:05
Replay shows there was contact between Martin and Marquez at Turn 7.
13:05
Lap 2/25
Onto lap two, Acosta's lead is 0.3s over Fernandez and Marquez.
Zarco is fourth, with Martin fifth from Morbidelli, DiGia, Bezzecchi, Quartararo and Marini.
Bagnaia is only 15th.
13:04
Martin had a go at third at Turn 7, but is now down to sixth after Zarco nearly lost it at Turn 10.
13:04
Fernandez has taken second now from Marquez at Turn 5.
13:03
Race start - Lap 1/25
The 2026 Catalan MotoGP is GO!
Brad Binder has been wheeled off the grid.
Acosta takes the lead into Turn 1 from pole ahead of Marquez and Fernandez, with Martin up to fourth!
13:01
Track temp is up to 34C now.
12:59
Warm-ip lap
The warm-up lap is underway ahead of the race start.
12:57
Valentino Rossi's pre-race thoughts.
12:56
Big day for Luca Marini.