Pedro Acosta clinched first place in the final minutes at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in a mostly drama-free MotoGP Free Practice 1 session to start the Catalan GP weekend. The #37 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider was the only one to have a lap time inside the 1:38s. Marc Márquez looked comfortable at the top of the timesheet for the entirety of the morning, but was pushed down to third by Acosta and Johann Zarco.
Housekeeping Handled Before the Session
Before we got underway for the first MotoGP session at the Catalan GP, we welcomed some familiar faces back to the paddock. It had been confirmed that Maverick Viñales and Somkiat Chantra were to return this weekend. However, whether they will be able to compete across the weekend remains to be seen. Aleix Espargaró returned as the Honda HRC Castrol Wildcard after recovering from his cycling injury. There were also five Aprilia riders on track, with wildcard entry Luca Salvadori participating this weekend.
For Yamaha, they were looking for all the confidence they could get this weekend. They currently hold the record for the most wins here — fourteen in total — between five riders. With the long-awaited announcement of Jack Miller re-signing at Pramac Yamaha, the Aussie was obviously relieved to have that confirmed coming into this weekend. Other announcements had already confirmed several other riders to remain on the 2026 grid, with now only one seat remaining to be filled.
Forty-Five Minutes Start in Flying Fashion
The MotoGP riders wasted no time in getting around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Flying lap after flying lap, several riders jumped up the board, with the top three rounded out by M. Márquez, Álex Márquez, and Zarco.
Jorge Martin recreated the iconic Turn 5 shot from last year, the #1 completely lying on top of the corner. It was less than an ideal start for Miller, crashing into the gravel trap ten minutes into the session. The #43 rider was the only one to crash during the session.
A majority of the riders returned to their respective garages to confer with their teams to make adjustments where necessary. One of those was the mysterious setup on Francesco Bagnaia’s bike. With only eight laps completed, we had still not seen a noticeable improvement in the Ducati Lenovo machine. He remained near the bottom of the timeboard, clearly treating the session as an exploratory one rather than setting fast times.
Tiny Saves as No-Nonsense Session Comes to a Close
Zarco almost became another victim of Turn 5, but his experience at the track proved helpful as he safely rode through the turn. Enea Bastianini had no choice but to pull off the straight due to apparent technical issues. Marco Bezzecchi had his leg up off the footpeg coming into a fast-paced corner, but made it through unscathed.
With ten minutes remaining, all riders came back out of the pit lane for the final run. Raúl Fernández came out on fresh tyres, the Trackhouse Racing rider looking for a better result than his DNF in Hungary. Meanwhile, the aero of his teammate, Ai Ogura, flew off his machine and onto the track. The KTM riders slowly started to improve in the final minutes, with Acosta taking the top spot and Viñales edging up into the top five. Brad Binder and Bastianini also moved up into the top ten fastest on track.
The Top 10
- Pedro Acosta
- Johann Zarco
- Marc Márquez
- Maverick Viñales
- Álex Márquez
- Luca Marini
- Brad Binder
- Marco Bezzecchi
- Aleix Espargaró
- Enea Bastianini
Despite only being the third-fastest in the morning session, the stage looks set for another M. Márquez victory. If the #93 can outscore his younger brother by 10 points this weekend, he will have his first opportunity to claim the title of 2025 MotoGP World Championship next weekend at Misano. Meanwhile, Ducati are on par to clinch the constructors’ championship as early as the Tissot Sprint this Saturday. All we can do is wait and watch how the story unfolds in Catalonia.