Qualifying report

MotoGP Catalan GP: Pedro Acosta claims pole as factory Aprilias crash in qualifying

Pedro Acosta stars for KTM, as Aprilia suffered a disastrous qualifying with both its factory riders crashing at different points

Pedro Acosta dominated qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix to claim the second pole position of his MotoGP career, as Aprilia duo Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin suffered costly crashes.

Factory KTM rider Acosta led the entirety of the 15-minute session at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday, gradually improving his time to finish a quarter of a second up on his rivals. Franco Morbidelli qualified a surprise second on the VR46 Ducati, while 2025 Catalan GP winner Alex Marquez completed the front row.

At the start of Q2, Acosta obliterated his Friday benchmark on his first flying lap, setting a blistering time of 1m38.397s to lead VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio by almost four tenths of a second.

Minutes later, Marquez dislodged him from the top spot on the Gresini Ducati, but Acosta immediately fired back with a 1m38.118s to put two tenths between him and the rest of the field.

There was drama with five minutes remaining in the session when championship leader Bezzecchi crashed at Turn 2 and barrel rolled on the gravel trap, bringing out the yellow flags.

After the wrecked Aprilia was cleared, Acosta managed to deliver a late improvement, posting a time of 1m1m38.068s to cement his position at the front. Despite other riders finding time in the final moments, he held on to claim his first pole position since the 2024 Japanese GP.

With Valentino Rossi in the garage to support his VR46 team, Morbidelli starred in qualifying and qualified second, securing his first front row start since last year’s Aragon round.

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images

Gresini Marquez also delivered a late improvement but could only qualify third, just ahead of the top Aprilia of Raul Fernandez.

LCR rider Johann Zarco led Honda’s charge in fifth place, edging out di Giannantonio and the top Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo. Brad Binder was the only other KTM rider to get into Q2, apart from polesitter Acosta, qualifying eighth for Sunday’s race.

French GP winner Martin set a rapid time towards the end of Q1, but then damaged his primary bike on the cooldown lap at Turn 5, suffering his third crash of the weekend. Struggling for pace in the final part of qualifying, he could only manage ninth ahead of Honda’s Joan Mir.

Aprilia’s wretched day was compounded by a crash for Bezzecchi, who had only been sitting eighth on the timesheets when he hit the deck at Turn 2. The Italian was eventually shuffled down to 12th, behind the Pramac Yamaha of Mir.

In Q1, Francesco Bagnaia gave Morbidelli a slipstream that helped him get into the second leg of qualifying, but the factory Ducati rider was himself knocked out of the session and will line up 13th on the grid.

Enea Bastianini also missed the Q2 cut by less than a tenth off a second, having to roll off his flying lap due to yellow flags after Gresini rival Fermin Aldeguer crashed late at Turn 5. He will start the race from 14th on the grid.

Trackhouse sophomore Ai Ogura, who scored his maiden MotoGP podium at the French Grand Prix last weekend, languished in 18th place, while Pramac’s Toprak Razgatlioglu qualified 22nd and last after falling in Q1.

MotoGP Catalan GP - Qualifying results:

Q2

All Stats

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37	KTM	8	1'38.068		173.524	363
2	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	8	+0.233 1'38.301	0.233	173.113	355
3	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	8	+0.274 1'38.342	0.041	173.041	356
4	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	8	+0.385 1'38.453	0.111	172.845	356
5	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	8	+0.406 1'38.474	0.021	172.809	352
6	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	8	+0.409 1'38.477	0.003	172.803	358
7	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	8	+0.443 1'38.511	0.034	172.744	350
8	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	8	+0.529 1'38.597	0.086	172.593	357
9	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89	Aprilia	7	+0.584 1'38.652	0.055	172.497	358
10	J. Mir Honda HRC	36	Honda	8	+0.618 1'38.686	0.034	172.437	358
11	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43	Yamaha	8	+0.705 1'38.773	0.087	172.285	352
12	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72	Aprilia	5	+0.717 1'38.785	0.012	172.265	352
View full results

Q1 results:

Q1

All Stats

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	7	1'38.550		172.675	356
2	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89	Aprilia	6	+0.151 1'38.701	0.151	172.411	358
3	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63	Ducati	7	+0.202 1'38.752	0.051	172.322	357
4	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23	KTM	8	+0.247 1'38.797	0.045	172.244	361
5	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54	Ducati	7	+0.301 1'38.851	0.054	172.150	354
6	L. Marini Honda HRC	10	Honda	8	+0.461 1'39.011	0.160	171.871	354
7	M. Viñales Tech 3	12	KTM	7	+0.521 1'39.071	0.060	171.767	355
8	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79	Aprilia	8	+0.662 1'39.212	0.141	171.523	357
9	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	7	+0.730 1'39.280	0.068	171.406	355
10	D. Moreira Team LCR	11	Honda	8	+0.774 1'39.324	0.044	171.330	354
11	A. Fernandez Yamaha Factory Racing	47	Yamaha	7	+1.326 1'39.876	0.552	170.383	350
12	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7	Yamaha	5	+4.395 1'42.945	3.069	165.303	347
View full results