Winners and losers from MotoGP’s turbulent Catalan GP

The Catalan Grand Prix proved to be one of the most chaotic MotoGP races in recent memory, with unfortunately both Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco suffering fractures in separate accidents.

The weekend put the spotlight on MotoGP’s safety standards and how the championship responds in such high-pressure situations.

The competitive order was also shaken up in Barcelona as Aprilia failed to trouble the podium finishers and KTM missed out on a big opportunity amid an intense challenge from Ducati.

No fewer than five riders received penalties more than two hours after the race had finished, adding further drama to an already turbulent weekend.

Winner: Fabio di Giannantonio

Fabio di Giannantonio had already been Ducati’s top-scorer – and most consistent rider – in 2026. The only feat that was missing was a race win. And after being struck by an errant wheel from Marquez’s bike, di Giannantonio fought back at the final restart, gradually made his way up the order and picked off Acosta with relative ease to finally get the monkey off his back. With Valentino Rossi watching in the garage, he delivered the VR46 team a result it had waited three years for.

This wasn’t a perfect weekend for ‘Diggia’. He was outqualified by a Honda and could only finish third in the sprint. But he appeared much stronger on Sunday and emerged out of chaos as a deserved winner. This may not taste as sweet as his maiden grand prix success in 2023, but it carries far more significance as it thrust him firmly into title contention against the factory Aprilias. 

How the rest of the season unfolds is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear that di Giannantonio’s expected departure to KTM will be a huge loss for both VR46 and Ducati.

Loser: MotoGP

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing crash

Photo by: DANIEL BALLARIN / AFP via Getty Images

This wasn’t the kind of Sunday that would put MotoGP in a positive light. The collision between Marquez and Pedro Acosta was a freak accident, and it’s hard to fault MotoGP or the circuit itself for the ensuing chaos. A medical team arrived quickly at the scene of the incident, Marquez was declared conscious soon after, and the camera didn’t pan to the Spaniard as he lay on the ground (considering how some of the past incidents were broadcast). Whether the race should have been restarted while Marquez was being transported to the hospital was less of an ethical call and more of a commercial consideration, at least as far as MotoGP was concerned.

However, the dramatic restart where Zarco got tangled up in Francesco Bagnaia’s Ducati was completely avoidable, as Turn 1 is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous on the calendar. Then, the race was restarted yet again, putting riders through another launch sequence heading into the same section. That is where MotoGP and FIM probably overstepped a mark.

Ironically, if the race had been declared early, fans would have been denied a nail-biting finish. But while the final 12-lap sprint passed without any further drama, the wider issue for MotoGP and Liberty Media is how weekends like this shape the perception of the championship among fans and the broader public.

Winner: Ducati

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Ducati ended up locking out the podium positions at the end of the Catalan Grand Prix. While it’s incredibly unfortunate that two of its best riders were involved in serious incidents on consecutive weeks, the Barcelona weekend showed Ducati has plenty of depth in its rider roster.

Apart from di Giannantonio rising to the fore on VR46, Fermin Aldeguer was able to nurse his thigh injury to score an under-the-radar podium. Even Bagnaia somehow finished third (having originally crossed the line in fifth) despite being forced to run the medium rear tyre for the final restart. After a supposed breakthrough at Le Mans, this weekend marked the continuation of Bagnaia’s upward trend, although he still faces a long road to return to winning ways.

Further, Franco Morbidelli emerged from the doldrums to put together an incredible lap in qualifying to book a spot on the front row. While a poor third start undid all his work, this was still the most promising weekend for the Italian in recent memory.

Considering that Marquez also claimed the sprint win on Saturday, Ducati can also take satisfaction from the fact that it maximised its points tally when its biggest rival was in self-destruction mode.

Loser: Aprilia

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

The Barcelona weekend was nothing short of a disaster for Aprilia. In fact, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the Noale factory. Whether that was its own riders taking out each other, crashing at crucial points, qualifying too far down the grid or generally lacking pace, Aprilia had to face it all in the span of 72 hours in Spain.

Jorge Martin went down time and again over the weekend despite clearly having the pace to contend for a podium, if not the win. He had already made his life tough with repeated crashes before Raul Fernandez forced him out in an incident that led to visible tensions between their respective teams, Aprilia and Trackhouse. 

Marco Bezzecchi was fortunate to be classified fourth, considering he was fighting with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo at one point of the race. But while a chaotic race handed him big points on Sunday, he only came away with a ninth-place finish in the sprint.

Even Trackhouse squandered a big opportunity as Ai Ogura’s qualifying struggles deepened – the penalty for crashing with Acosta added to his woes – and Fernandez couldn’t convert his improved form into a podium in either race.

Winner and loser: Pedro Acosta

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

After dominating Friday practice, claiming pole position with a blistering lap, and fighting Marquez all the way to the finish for the sprint, Acosta would have been keen to wrap up the weekend on a strong note.

He fought well against both Fernandez and Marquez early on Sunday, but the electrical drama changed the whole complexion of his race. Apart from having to face a frightening scenario in which the bike essentially cut off while he was powering through a straight, Acosta had to deal with two separate restarts – all while managing the emotional toll that came from watching his colleagues taken to the hospital.

He again did well to hang on to the podium, but suffered a sudden drop in performance late in the race – the reason for which is still not clear. But the fact that he could not even finish the race must sting, after he was punted off the track by Ogura at the final turn. 

The Spaniard did lose out on a potential maiden victory in MotoGP, but at the same time he can’t be faulted for the mechanical issue that ultimately triggered a chaotic sequence of events over which he had little control.

Loser: KTM

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

This weekend should have been one of the highlights of the year for KTM. Acosta was right up there at the front, Brad Binder was regularly running inside the top 10, Enea Bastianini appeared quick despite missing Q2, and Vinales finally returned to action after a long injury layoff.

Yet, the RC16s suffered from an alarming number of problems across the race weekend. First, it was Vinales who had to retire from the sprint due to oil spilling out of the bike and making it impossible for him to keep his foot on the footrest. 

On Sunday, Binder had to take a pitlane start after encountering a technical issue on the warm-up lap. Then, within a few laps of each other, both Bastianini and Acosta suffered a sudden loss of power due to unrelated issues. Bastianini was able to park his bike with what was initially understood to be an engine issue, but Acosta’s problem arose just as he was accelerating out of Turn 9, leading to a big collision with Marquez.

Even putting the technical issues aside, KTM picked up very few points from the weekend (although Acosta did finish second in the sprint). Binder came home seventh after benefitting from a slew of penalties, while Vinales was classified 11th.

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