Pedro Acosta tops Catalunya MotoGP Practice, Jorge Martin in Q1 after second crash
KTM led the way on Friday at the Catalan Grand Prix, as Martin and Bagnaia miss the Q2 cut
KTM’s Pedro Acosta led Practice at the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix, as Jorge Martin joins Pecco Bagnaia in Q1 after a second crash of the day for the Aprilia rider.
Second practice on Friday afternoon at Barcelona was threatened by rain on the forecast, though this fortunately stayed away for the entirety of the hour.
In a session with the top 10 covered by just 0.269s, KTM’s Pedro Acosta prevailed by 0.018s over Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez to lead the day.
Brad Binder brushed off a crash to finish third, as he desperately tries to save his MotoGP career, on the sister factory KTM.
Jorge Martin, reportedly suffering from a minor concussion after his FP1 crash, struggled for much of Practice to get on Q2 pace, and had his hopes ended by a second fall late on at Turn 2.
He will join Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia in Q1 on Saturday morning in qualifying, who was only 12th after being knocked out by Johann Zarco at the death.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi led the way after the opening 10 minutes with a 1m39.062s, which was already the best time of the day.
This remained the benchmark until the final 16 minutes, when KTM’s Binder produced a 1m38.970s after an early switch to a fresh soft rear tyre.
This was bettered by team-mate Pedro Acosta on a 1m38.710s, which would ultimately go unbeaten through to the chequered flag.
Alex Marquez was his nearest challenger in the end, 0.018s down on the leading Ducati, with Binder shuffled to third.
Raul Fernandez was fourth on the Trackhouse Aprilia, with Johann Zarco on the LCR Honda firing in a 1m38.789s on his final lap to leap into the top 10.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was sixth on the VR46 Ducati, while Bezzecchi was shuffled back to seventh ahead of Honda’s Joan Mir.
Mir crashed in the closing stages of Practice, but held onto a direct Q2 spot ahead of Pramac’s Jack Miller and his Yamaha counterpart Fabio Quartararo.
A late crash for French Grand Prix winner Jorge Martin left him in 17th, while Pecco Bagnaia - who was on pole last week at Le Mans - was only 12th.
Le Mans podium finisher Ai Ogura also dropped into Q1 in 13th after an early spill on his Trackhouse Aprilia.
With Martin and Ogura dropping into Q1, only Alex Marquez maintains a 100% direct Q2 record in 2026.
Alex Rins was another faller in that session in 21st, while Maverick Vinales was 1.001s off the pace in 20th as he continues his return from recent surgery.
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