16.05.2026
MotoGP 2026 - Round 06 of 22, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Qualification and Sprint
A hard-fought 2nd position was won by Pedro Acosta across the course of 12 laps at a bright Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today as the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider battled to his second Sprint podium of 2026 after starting from his first Pole of the year.
Highlights and key moments from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya:
- A four rider fight for Sprint medals sees Pedro Acosta finish as runner-up across the low-grip asphalt of the circuit north of Barcelona. The Spaniard had qualified in P1 and diced for the win up until the final meters of the race
- A top ten result for Enea Bastianini on the same day as Tech3 renew their union with KTM to ensure four full factory KTM race bikes on the grid in a multi-year agreement
- Maverick Viñales returns to competitive action for Red Bull KTM Tech3 for the first time since round two in Brazil
- Red Bull KTM Tech3 land their maiden Pole Position of 2026 in Moto3™ thanks to Valentin Perrone’s rapid lap in Q2 as Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brian Uriarte also lands on the front row
For 35 years MotoGP has been making the short trip north through the center of Barcelona to the circuit constructed in 1991 and the site of the Catalan Grand Prix since 1996. The greasy but abrasive asphalt is notorious for its lack of traction but the 4.6km layout provides a testing mix of 14 fast and open but also tight and demanding turns.
Friday went smoothly for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing as Acosta and Binder classified P1 and P3 in Practice for direct Q2 status on Saturday. Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Enea Bastianini was nudged to P11 in the last minute and entry to Q1 with Viñales less than one second from Pedro’s rapid lap. Acosta continued his pace through a sunny Saturday morning and eased to his second career Pole Position, the first for the Spaniard since 2024. Brad was just half a second behind his teammate for P8 and the third row of the grid. Enea took P15 and Maverick Viñales felt his way back to speed with P17.
Acosta soared into contention at the start of the Sprint and preserved his tire performance until the final two laps when he hounded the rear wheel of the leader. He searched for an overtaking opportunity into Turn 10 and then around the final two curves but just missed out in the drag to the flag. The Sprint classification for victory was the closest since the start of the Saturday concept in 2023. Bastianini also engaged in a dogfight in the lower half of the top ten. The Italian gained and lost track space and made sure of P10 by the finale. Binder’s race was over in the opening corner after contact with another rider put the South African in the gravel. Viñales had to retire with a minor technical issue after seven laps.
The 24-lap Grand Prix gets underway at 14.00 on Sunday.
Pedro Acosta, 1st in qualification, 2nd in the Sprint: “Just one more lap! Pace quite OK, start quite OK but we’re missing something in the beginning of the race before we can come back, so we need to find a bit more grip. But I’m happy with the rhythm and how we managed the rear tire to be fast at the end. A different tire tomorrow so it’s a question mark. Today we were fast, tomorrow we will see if we can have the same.”
Enea Bastianini, 14th in qualification, 10th in the Sprint: “I was competitive in qualifying but I was unlucky to find two consecutive yellow flags in Turn 5 and could not do any better than my first run. In any case my pace in the race was not too bad. I tried to recover positions lap-by-lap but towards the end I destroyed the tire and just had to manage. It should be easier tomorrow with more time and more laps to make a comeback.”
Brad Binder, 8th in qualification, DNF in the Sprint: “Well, a short race. I had a good start but as I went into Turn 1 I got tapped on the inside. A racing incident. Tomorrow I’ll try going in there a bit tighter! I would have liked a good result today but we’ll have another go tomorrow. Our bike was really working well and I feel we have a great package for this track. There is still time to turn this weekend around.”
Maverick Viñales, 17th in qualification, DNF in the Sprint: “I had a technical problem with the rear brake and it was impossible to keep my foot on the footrest. A shame because I wanted as many laps as possible. Physically I’m good. I just need to build-up now and I need to learn more about the bike. It feels good and it’s nice to have traction which is unusual here. I want to finish tomorrow and accumulate laps. I think I could have been in Q2 today if I had full strength…but we have some time.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “A very exciting race here today and we have to be very happy with our performance across the board here this weekend. From Friday we could see that the track and the current grip level suited us and even today with the track temperature being a lot higher we were very competitive. Pedro’s podium was great and we have to hope for more tomorrow. The other riders were strong as well: a good grid position for Brad and both Enea and Maverick had decent speed here.”
Grand Prix of Catalunya photographs can be found HERE
Results Qualifying MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalunya
1. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:38.068
2. Franco Morbidelli (ITA), Ducati +0.233
3. Alex Marquez (ESP), Ducati +0.274
8. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.529
14. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 1:38.797 (Q1)
17. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 1:39.071 (Q1)
Results MotoGP Sprint Grand Prix of Catalunya
1. Alex Marquez (ESP) Ducati 20.02.258
2. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.041
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA) Ducati +0.457
10. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +7.869
DNF. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
DNF. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3
KTM GP Academy
Moto3 Q2 took place with a flurry of laps and action and where the two first rows – 1st to 6th positions – were divided by just 0.2 of a second. The leading KTM GP Academy rider was Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Valentin Perrone who stitched all the sectors together to mark the best chrono. The Argentine was only 0.019 in front of brandmate Brian Uriarte as the rookie secured his first ‘clear view’ from the grid this season in P3. A fleet of KTM RC4s filled the top of the Moto3 Q2 standings and Alvaro Carpe and Rico Salmela found themselves in P14 and P15 respectively – the fifth row – but only half a second from Perrone. Moto3 will rage for 18 laps at 11.00
Valentin Perrone: “Finally after many races struggling we are on Pole Position. We were on the front row in Brazil and the USA but this Pole is super-important after some mistakes in qualifying in the last two races. Very happy, now it’s time to enjoy the race tomorrow.”
In Moto2™ Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Collin Veijer vied for Pole Position in the final minutes of Q2. The Dutchman nailed his fastest effort on the sixth attempt of eight laps and it was good enough for P2. Moto2 again proved to be ultra close with one second splitting the top 14. Among the posse was rookie Jose Antonio Rueda, riding at the venue of his first world championship podium result in Moto3, who recorded the 9th quickest flyer and was rewarded with the highest qualification result of his young career in the intermediate class to-date. Jose Antonio will begin the 21-lap contest from the edge of the third row.
Results Qualifying Moto3 Grand Prix of Catalunya
1. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3 1:46.679
2. David Muñoz (ESP), KTM +0.005
3. Brian Uriarte (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.019
5. Marco Morelli (ARG) CFMOTO Aspar Team +0.248
7. Maximo Quiles (ESP), CFMOTO Aspar Team +0.303
14. Alvaro Carpe (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.492
15. Rico Salmela (FIN), Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.677
Results Qualifying Moto2 Grand Prix of Catalunya
1. Celestino Vietti (ITA) 1:41.076
2. Collin Veijer (NED) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.262
3. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) +0.360
8. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team +0.550
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.579
13. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team +0.730
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