Starting grid for the 2026 Catalunya MotoGP Sprint race
The full starting grid for Saturday’s 2026 Catalunya MotoGP Sprint race at Barcelona.
Pedro Acosta will chase a second career Sprint victory from pole position on Saturday afternoon at the Catalan MotoGP.
The factory KTM star, whose only previous premier-class win was in the season-opening Buriram Sprint, repeated his pace-setting Friday form to seal pole ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez.
Morbidelli topped Qualifying 1 on the way to his best grid place of the season, while defending Barcelona grand prix winner Alex Marquez starts from the outside of the front row on the factory-spec GP26.
Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez emerged as the leading Aprilia rider in fourth and will be joined on the front row by the top Honda of Johann Zarco and Morbidelli’s team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio.
Fabio Quartararo continued his momentum from last weekend with seventh on the Yamaha V4, ahead of Brad Binder (KTM) and Jorge Martin (Aprilia).
Le Mans double winner Martin and title leading team-mate Marco Bezzecchi both crashed in qualifying.
Bezzecchi, who holds a one-point lead over Martin, starts just twelfth on the grid, behind Pramac’s Jack Miller.
Pecco Bagnaia failed to make it past Qualifying 1 and lines up 13th.
Tech3’s Maverick Vinales will start his first race since Brazil from 17th
Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez starts ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu in 21st after the WorldSBK champion joined Martin and Fermin Aldeguer in suffering a Q1 fall.
Marc Marquez is missing this weekend’s event following shoulder and foot surgery.
The reigning champion has not been replaced, with Bagnaia the only Ducati Lenovo rider.
There are currently no penalties.
The 12-lap Catalunya Sprint starts at 3pm local time (2pm UK).
2026 Spanish MotoGP Sprint race: Full starting grid
Row 1: Pedro Acosta (pole), Franco Morbidelli, Alex Marquez
Row 2: Raul Fernandez, Johann Zarco, Fabio di Giannantonio
Row 3: Fabio Quartararo, Brad Binder, Jorge Martin
Row 4: Joan Mir, Jack Miller, Marco Bezzecchi
Row 5: Pecco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Fermin Aldeguer
Row 6: Luca Marini, Maverick Vinales, Ai Ogura
Row 7: Alex Rins, Diogo Moreira, Augusto Fernandez
Row 8: Toprak Razgatlioglu
In this article
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
