GP Catalonia 2026, the Sprint report

15:30 – Thank you for following our live text coverage. MotoGP returns to the track tomorrow morning with the Warm Up, then from 14:00 the start of the Catalonia GP.

Read more GP Catalonia 2026, Sprint finishing order: Alex beats Acosta in the sprint, Diggia 3rd. Martin down but Bez only 9th

15:25 – This is the finishing order of the Catalonia GP Sprint. Applause for Ogura’s comeback who finished 8th recovering 10 positions in 12 laps.

Checkered flag! – Spectacular last lap, Alex Marquez takes it! A very good Acosta was beaten, who fought until the end! Third place for Di Giannantonio. Then Fernandez, Zarco, Bagnaia, Morbidelli, Ogura and Bezzecchi complete the points zone.

Lap 12 – Alex Marquez suffers, Acosta glued! They will fight the Sprint in a sprint finish!

Lap 11 – Acosta has gotten very close to Marquez! Possibly the Gresini rider is struggling with tire wear! Di Giannantonio very good takes third place from Fernandez. We could have a top-3 without Aprilia in this Sprint. Bezzecchi in obvious difficulty: Morbidelli and Bastianini pass him. Bez is only 9th.

Lap 10 – Raul Fernandez struggling now, Di Giannantonio targets him and thinks about attacking for P3. Nice Sprint from Bagnaia, constantly climbing. Pecco has distanced Bezzecchi, now chased by Morbidelli. #63 will now try the very difficult comeback on Zarco for P5.

Lap 9 – Acosta stuck to Fernandez. Battle for P2, while Alex Marquez in the lead seems to be managing relatively. And Acosta passes! Di Giannantonio fourth watches the battle ahead and hopes to take advantage.

Lap 8 – Alex Marquez extends, he has almost half a second advantage over Fernandez. Three-way battle for the other podium positions: Fernandez, Acosta and Diggia. Zarco alone in P5, then the duel Bezzecchi-Bagnaia, with the Ducati rider having passed his friend-rival. Difficult race for the World Championship leader today.

Lap 7 – Everything unchanged at the top. The battle is behind: Bagnaia has pace and is chasing Bezzecchi for P6. Bastianini takes P9 (last points position) overtaking Marini. Meanwhile Vinales stops.

Lap 6 – Raul Fernandez steadily climbing, while Acosta sinks: position swap between Trackhouse and KTM factory. The top four are all close. Zarco in P5 is the gap. Then the group of Italians led by Bezzecchi.

Lap 5 – Di Giannantonio overtakes Zarco, P4 for the Roman of VR46.

Lap 4 – Alex Marquez in the lead, overtook Acosta in Turn 1. Behind Raul Fernandez took P3 ahead of Zarco. Meanwhile a group of Italians from P5 to P10. In order: Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi, Bagnaia, Morbidelli, Martin, Bastianini.

Lap 3 – Twist! Martin crash. He was 6th, maybe got nervous in traffic.

Lap 3 – Sparks for the lead between Acosta and Alex Marquez. The KTM Shark resists for now.

Read more Official, Tech3 stays with KTM: multi-year renewal

Lap 2 – Alex Marquez takes P2 and targets Acosta. Great three-way battle between Fernandez, Morbidelli and Martin. Martinator very fast but pays for traffic. Behind Bezzecchi 8th and Bagnaia 9th.

Lap 1 – Acosta immediately leader, with Zarco very good second! Alex Marquez third. Crash in turn 1, Mir and Binder immediately out. Amazing start from Martin, already 5th!

Lights out! Start of the Catalonia GP Sprint!

15:00 – The reconnaissance lap starts now.

14:55 – Five minutes to start. Wind slightly increasing. We are at 9-10 km/h towards Northeast. Track temperature has now risen to 43°C, air 22°C. Watch out for rear tire wear, even though the Sprint is only 12 laps.

14:50 – In the 5 Sprints held so far this year there have been two wins by Marc Marquez (obviously absent today due to injury), two by Jorge Martin and one (in the first weekend of the year) by Pedro Acosta.

14:48 – Tire chapter: the monitor shows Medium front and Soft rear for all. We will see if there will be any last-minute changes before the start.

14:45 – What Sprint do we expect? The fight for victory could narrow down to the Spanish pair Alex Marquez – Pedro Acosta, with the Ducati VR46 as possible outsiders. In terms of standings, eyes on the two Aprilias, called to come back from the back: Martin starts 9th, Bezzecchi 12th; right behind him the other big disappointment of qualifying, Francesco Bagnaia.

14:40 – Partly cloudy sky over Barcelona, but unlike what happened in the Jerez Sprint, today the risk of rain should be ruled out. Air temperature 19°C, but asphalt 40°C, rapidly rising.

14:30 – Today was a day of announcements: the Tech3 team, led by Gunther Steiner, confirmed its stay with KTM for the coming seasons.

Good afternoon dear readers of FormulaPassion.it and welcome back to the live text coverage of the Catalonia GP Sprint Race of the MotoGP class. Below the starting grid.

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