One hour of full-throttle action awaited the Spanish fans in Catalunya. The riders had their Free Practice, and now practice awaited them, with the fastest 10 riders going straight to Q2 in tomorrow’s qualifying. Session now finished; let’s summarise what happened in a very tame practice.
A Home Race for Many
It’s no secret that many that race in MotoGP are Spanish, so racing in Catalunya will be a special time for many of the riders this weekend. Starting off the session, Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta were the two topping the table. Marquez seemed to come alive in the early stages of the session and looked dominant on the track. A 1:39.074 being the initial time to beat.
Circuit de Catalunya – Barcelona can be a tricky track for many riders. Long, wide, winding corners can be demanding if not careful. The KTM riders seemed to be able to master those corners and generate good pace. Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta kept themselves within the top 3 for the first 30 minutes of the session.
The Laps Came Flying In
While the first 40 minutes of the session were relatively quiet and tame, the final 20 minutes saw the times come rolling in. Bastianini was the first to try and deny Alex Marquez of the fastest lap. This was until Alex’s brother Marc Marquez shot straight to Pole, having been sat among the midfielders throughout the session.
Alex is never one to back down, and so he returned a pole lap shortly after his brother. The timing table was toped by the Marquez duo as they entered the final 10 minutes of the session.
Fabio Quartararo seemed to struggle initially in the session but managed to produce a lap good enough for P4 at the time but still considerably off the pace. This was an issue for a lot of the riders, not coming anywhere close to the times produced by the Márquez duo.
Final Shootout
In the final minutes of this afternoon’s session, the yellow flag came out as Bastianini came off the bike in a big shunt at turn 2. Joan Zarco also crashed in the closing stages of practice. They are both okay, but this yellow flag coming out so late proved to be terrible for most riders.
Riders such as Quartararo, Adleguer and Bagania were not able to start their final flying laps to get themselves into the top 10. Timing is everything with MotoGP, and this is no different.
KTM 1-2
Before the yellow flags came out, it seemed as though the Marquez brothers would be untouchable. This was until Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta shocked spectators and shot straight to the top of the timings. The team were delighted in the garage, a different emotion to most of the teams today.
While Acosta has seen a lot of success and good results this season, Binder being the fastest has shocked many. Could this weekend lead to Acosta’s first MotoGP win? Is Binder back in form?
Günther Steiner Comes to MotoGP
News came out today that Günther Steiner, previous Team Principal of MoneyGram HAAS F1, is officially set to become owner of Tech3 KTM. He has led a consortium to take full ownership of the team next season. His experience in the world of F1 will bring a new perspective to MotoGP.
In 2026, we will see a lot more of his great personality in the paddock and in the world of MotoGP!