The 2026 Catalan Grand Prix will not be remembered for the pace of the Sprint race won by Álex Márquez. Nor because of Ducati’s competitiveness, or because Aprilia has not been dominant. The 2026 Catalan Grand Prix will remain in everyone’s memory due to the serious accidents that took place on Sunday and that left, as it could not be otherwise, the sporting scene as a mere anecdote.
And, although it was like a wake-up call and the protagonists are going to emerge from two horrible accidents with minimal injuries for what could have been, what happened this weekend in Montmeló reminds us of the real risk of motorcycle racing and how everything can turn around in a matter of thousandths. But let’s start with Saturday.
Álex Márquez wins the game against Acosta by 41 thousandths
WHAT CRAZY! WHAT AN ENDING! ÀLEX MÁRQUEZ BEATS PEDRO ACOSTA BY THOUSANDTHS 🔥🇪🇸
Fermín López hallucinating while the checkered flag waves 🏁#MotoGP #CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/fzBA8DZPSe
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 16, 2026
Pedro Acosta’s weekend started in a solid way and, in fact, he also managed to be the fastest in Q2, taking pole position. From the first position and knowing that Álex was his greatest rival despite the fact that Morbidelli sneaked in between, the Murcian put all his effort into trying to prevent Márquez from passing him in the initial meters.
From that moment until lap four Acosta led with Álex following closely. But already on lap four Márquez took the lead in the Sprint Race, setting the pace that, at that moment, was slightly higher than that of the KTM rider. So much so that even Raúl Fernández surpassed Acosta who, once remade, surpassed the Madrid native again to go in search of Álex. Finally, the youngest of the Márquez family managed to maintain the first position despite the stalking of Acosta who finished second just 41 thousandths behind.
Behind them, Fabio Di Giannantonio crossed the finish line, overtaking Raúl Fernández two laps from the end, who, throughout the weekend, was the most competitive Aprilia. Zarco, also very competitive all weekend, finished fifth with Bagnaia sixth, Morbidelli seventh and Ogura eighth. Marco Bezzecchi crossed the finish line in ninth position, scoring a point and without taking full advantage of Jorge Martín’s fall.
The disaster flew over Montmeló, but Márquez and Zarco were faster
After a spectacular Saturday we were all looking forward to Sunday, with Acosta, Fernández and Márquez raising the level. And so it was once the traffic light went out. Pedro took control of the race, although Fernández followed in his wake to, at the beginning of the fifth lap, take the lead. That action allowed Márquez, who had lost a few meters at the beginning, to reach them and end up overtaking Fernández to get behind Acosta who was again in front.
But everything turned around on lap 12, when the KTM abruptly lost speed on the back straight and Álex Márquez collided with it, losing control of his Ducati and suffering a terrifying fall in the middle of the straight. As a result of the brutal impact of the motorcycle against the wall, parts of it returned to the track hitting Raúl Fernández, who was able to avoid the fall, and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who avoided the most direct impact but ended up being hit by part of the front end of Álex’s motorcycle and ending up on the ground.
Very hard fall for Álex Márquez when he was fighting for victory
Race Direction informs that the Gresini driver is conscious 🙏🏻#MotoGP #CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/xbPkCkQyK2
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 17, 2026
The race was stopped immediately with the focus of attention on the condition of Álex Márquez who, for a few long minutes, left everyone with their hearts in their mouths. Fortunately, Race Management later confirmed that Álex was conscious and, after undergoing a medical examination, he was transferred to the General Hospital of Catalonia where the fracture of the clavicle was confirmed, for which he has already undergone surgery, and a small fracture in the C7 vertebra.
Once Álex was attended to and the track was cleaned, the start was again and, once again, a multiple crash forced the red flag to be shown. In this case it was Johann Zarco who suffered a very bad fall in which his leg was caught on Bagnaia’s motorcycle, with Marini also involved in the fall. After fearing more serious consequences, Johann was also taken to the hospital, confirming “minor” injuries, ruling out a femur fracture, although confirming one in the lower part of the fibula, in addition to injuries to the ligaments and tibial plateau that will require him to undergo surgery.
After these two serious accidents, the start was started again, a measure that has been widely questioned publicly by the pilots who will have to take action on the matter to begin to be heard. The start was again for Acosta, although the controversy came with a touch between Fernández and Martín, which left the two people from Madrid without options and with a controversy with conflicting versions of the incident that, for its part, Race Management decided that it would not sanction Fernández.
The incident between Raúl Fernández and Jorge Martín 💥
Then came Massimo Rivola’s gesture to Davide Brivio 👀#MotoGP #CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/h2aFY82jQR
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 17, 2026
So without Álex, Fernández and Martín lurking around, Acosta seemed to have a great chance of victory despite starting with the second moto. But he found a group of drivers willing to spoil the party for the Murcian, something that began to happen three laps from the end when Di Giannantonio overtook him first, only to be overtaken by Joan Mir and Fermín Aldeguer on the last lap. A last lap that ended with the crazy overtaking of Ai Ogura who threw Acosta who could do nothing to avoid the fall.
Finally, Di Giannantonio, Mir and Aldeguer got on the podium, although once again the tire pressure regulations, also questioned when there are interrupted races, caused Mir to lose the well-deserved podium, with which Aldeguer rose to second position, Bagnaia got third place and Bezzecchi added a fourth place and 13 points that make him the leader of Barcelona despite having a disastrous weekend.
Fabio Quartararo finished fifth, with Marini sixth, Binder seventh, Ogura – penalized three seconds for throwing Acosta – eighth, Diogo Moreira tenth and Franco Morbidelli tenth. After this intense weekend, today, Monday, there is a test in which the Márquez brothers will not be present, nor will Zarco and neither will Fabio Di Giannantonio.
