The VR46 rider is joined on the podium by Mir and Aldeguer but a post-race tyre pressure penalty for the 2020 World Champion means Bagnaia is promoted to the rostrum
Fabio Di Giannantonio, for the first time since 2023, is a MotoGP winner after the Italian emerged victorious following a dramatic Catalan GP. The Pertamina Enduro VR46 star climbed to the front of the field in the closing stages to beat fellow podium finishers Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) and Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). Later, Mir was then given a time penalty for tyre pressure - promoting Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) to third and Aldeguer u to P2.
Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) were high-profile crashers in the 13-lap restart, as we send our best wishes to Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR), who both suffered tough crashes in separate red-flagged incidents.
THE OPENING 11 LAPS
Before the lights went out for the first time, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had a problem on the grid and was wheeled away for a pit lane start, while teammate Acosta got the launch he would have been looking for. The #37 led from Alex Marquez, but the Sprint winner got a little beaten up around the rest of the lap. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) pounced, and then Martin bullied his way past his compatriot at Turn 7 – and there was contact. It was another fast start from Zarco, but it was almost an early shower for the Frenchman after he had a big moment at Turn 10.
Right, breath caught? No, us neither. Acosta led by 0.7s, with Alex Marquez re-grouping and then attacking Fernandez. However, the attacker then became the hunted. Zarco aggressively shoved his way past Marquez at Turn 5 on Lap 3, and immediately after, Martin carved his way past Marquez to quickly demote the Spaniard to P5.
On the next lap, Martin (at Turn 1) and Marquez (at Turn 5) did then get back past Zarco for P3 and P4, but with the scrapping, Acosta and Fernandez were a second up the road. And on Lap 5, it was those two at the forefront of the action. Fernandez decided he fancied the Grand Prix lead baton, with the #25 making a classic Turn 1 move stick on the KTM star.
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), the pre-race championship leader, was lapping in P8 before a big mistake arrived at Turn 10 on Lap 5. That dropped the Italian behind compatriot Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), with the duo P11 and P12 in the early stages.
Lap 7 saw Acosta have a bite at leading again, but it was a move that Fernandez responded to immediately. Two laps later, Acosta went for it again at Turn 1 – and this time, there was nothing the Trackhouse rider could do. While thinking about trying to regain the lead, Fernandez also had to give a thought to a menacing Marquez, because the latter had slung himself into the fight for the lead.
P3 became P2 for Marquez down into Turn 1 on Lap 10, and at this stage of the Grand Grand Prix, the most comfortable-looking rider was Saturday’s winner.
Then, a huge incident unfolded on Lap 12. Acosta, coming out of Turn 9, suffered a technical issue on the straight, which left Alex Marquez with nowhere to go as Acosta lost power. The #73 clipped the rear of Acosta, which then caused Marquez to crash out in a dramatic incident. The unavoidable contact between the two meant debris littered the circuit, some of which Fernandez and Di Giannantonio couldn’t avoid. Di Giannantonio ended up crashing at Turn 10 due to being unable to avoid debris from Marquez’s bike. Both got back to pit lane and were eligible for the restart, with Marquez - who was confirmed conscious - taken to the hospital for further medical checks, and then later confirmed to have suffered a broken collarbone and a small fracture in his C7 vertebra, with a miraculous instagram post of a thumbs up from the #73 too.
Di Giannantonio, Fernandez, and Zarco – who was also caught up in the debris from the crash – were all OK to make the restart.
THE FIRST RESTART
MotoGP’s warriors lined up on the grid for a 13-lap race, with the starting positions decided by the standings on the previous completed lap. That meant the front row was Acosta, Fernandez, and Martin.
On the run into Turn 1, Acosta grabbed the holeshot, before three riders crashed at the opening corner. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Bagnaia, and Zarco all went down, and it was an incident that brought out the red flags. Marini and Pecco thankfully walked away, with Zarco unfortunately getting caught up with Pecco’s bike in the gravel. LCR confirmed Zarco was taken to the local hospital for further checks on a left leg injury before the #5 himself posted that he was largely ok, with one small fracture and ligament damage in his knee.
THE SECOND RESTART
12 laps, the grid as you were before the second red flags. Once more, Acosta held onto P1, with Martin slotting into P2. Fernandez was P3 but then, at Turn 5, contact. Fernandez, on the inside of Martin, had to pick up the bike after the duo came together, as both went into the gravel. Martin was on the floor but managed to rejoin; however, the Aprilias were P18 and P19.
At the front, Acosta led from Mir and Pecco, with Di Giannantonio sitting in P4. Bezzecchi was P8, one place behind Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team).
On Lap 4 of 13, Di Giannantonio moved up to P3 ahead of Pecco, as the top three began to stretch clear of the factory Ducati rider. P4 then became P5 for Bagnaia, who was running the medium rear tyre, as Aldeguer pounced at Turn 4 on Lap 7.
With five laps to go, Di Giannantonio decided it was time to pass Mir for P2. And it was a move that stuck. The top three were locked together in Barcelona, with Aldeguer and Ogura reeling in the leaders. Soon enough, you could throw a blanket over the top five.
With three laps to go, the lead changed for the first time. It was Turn 10 again, as Di Giannantonio parked his Ducati up the inside of Acosta and hanging onto the inside line into Turn 12, the pass stuck.
Within half a lap, Di Giannantonio pulled 0.6s on Acosta, Mir, Aldeguer, and Ogura. And it didn’t look like Acosta had anything in response. Instead, he had a tough task of keeping Mir, Aldeguer, and Ogura behind him.
A task that proved too difficult. Mir was P2 at Turn 1 on the last lap, and Aldeguer dived through at Turn 3. Di Giannantonio was away at the front, and with no time left to respond, it looked like Acosta’s rostrum chances were done. And at the final corner, they were.
Ogura, in a 2009 Rossi-esque attempt, made contact with the KTM star, which saw Acosta crash out. A disastrous end to the Grand Prix for Acosta, as he saw a win and podium slip away in dramatic fashion.
Di Giannantonio clinched his first win in VR46 colours, his first 25-point haul since the 2023 Qatar GP, a top job from the Italian who was riding in pain after the first red flag incident, with Mir and Aldeguer crossing the line behind the #49. However, it wasn't to be as a post-race tyre pressure penalty was given to Mir, subsequently promoting Bagnaia up to third. Ogura’s last corner move meant the Stewards handed the Japanese star a three-second penalty, the equivalent of a Long Lap, which dropped the #79 to P9 but then eighth once Mir's penalty was applied.
Whilst Pecco got third, other riders investigated for tyre pressure penalties were Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and teammate Jack Miller, Raul Fernandez and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). P5 became P4 for Bezzecchi and after a tough weekend, plus Martin’s crash, that could prove to be a very fruitful result for the Italian. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Marini, Binder, penalised Ogura, Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) and Morbidelli rounded out the top 10.
The riders closing out the points were Rins, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Miller, and Razgatlioglu.
Gonzalez produces the goods to beat Vietti in Barcelona
Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) extends his Moto2 World Championship lead after the Spaniard and Celestino Vietti (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team) treat us to a fantastic fight for the win in Barcelona. A couple of tenths split the duo over the line, while Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) produced a classy comeback from P11 on the grid to earn a rostrum on home soil.
The holeshot scrap was between Vietti and Gonzalez, and through Turn 2, it was the Italian who led as Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) slipped to P10 from second on the grid. Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – Bordoy – MSI) got a good getaway, the Le Mans podium finisher was P3, with Guevara and David Alonso (CFMOTO Impulse Aspar Team) pouncing into the top seven from outside the top 10.
Guevara eventually made a move stick on Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) for P4 in the early exchanges, with Alonso and teammate Daniel Holgado also getting the better of Lopez, with the latter one place ahead of the Colombian. Then, Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) demoted Lopez down another place to slot into P7.
An entertaining joust unfolded between Agius and Alonso for P6 on Lap 7 and 8, while at the front, Vietti was stretching his legs. On Lap 10, the polesitter was 0.7s clear of Gonzalez and Ortola, with Guevara and further 0.9s back in P4.
As the race clicked through the halfway stage, Vietti’s lead had come down by a couple of tenths. Gonzalez was still P2, with Ortola shadowing the title chase leader in P3. But with five to go, it looked like the latter’s victory hopes were fading. Ortola fell 1.5s back from second place Gonzalez, who in turn was clinging onto the coattails of Vietti.
Then, with three laps to go, Gonzalez pounced at Turn 1. Vietti had a couple of rear-end moments on the previous lap and now the question was, could the Italian respond?
Vietti wasn’t letting Gonzalez get away, as both kept lighting up the rear Pirelli rubber. Would three tenths heading onto the final lap be enough for Gonzalez? Turn 10 came around, but Vietti wasn’t close enough to make a move. Turn 14, anyone?
It would have been one hell of a lunge, because Vietti wasn’t close enough. Gonzalez fended off the #13 for a brilliant second win of the season, with just 0.2s splitting the top two. Guevara reeled in and beat Ortola in the battle for the podium, and fifth place went the way of 2025 Catalan GP winner Holgado.
Alonso completed the top six, Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team) earned a solid P7, with Lopez settling for P8 ahead of impressive rookie Luca Lunetta (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team). That’s the Italian’s best Moto2 result to date, as Agius was forced to settle for P10.
Gonzalez heads to Mugello with an 18.5 point lead in the overall standings, with Guevara remaining his chief chaser. We look forward to more of the same at the Italian GP. Find full results from Moto2 here and see you in Italy!
Quiles unstoppable in epic final corner showdown in Barcelona
Three on the bounce and a 64-point lead after six Grands Prix, Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) was once again unstoppable as he came good on Grand Prix Sunday for victory in Barcelona. Despite looking like his rivals may have the better of him this weekend, the #28 resisted a last-corner charge from David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) on the last lap to hold on to victory, whilst Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) came through from 13th to pip Muñoz to second at the line.
Off the line and it was a brilliant start from polesitter Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who grabbed the holeshot, leading the opening lap whilst Championship leader Quiles was battling away with Hakim Danish (AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI) for a top five placing. As is always the case in Barcelona, slipstream proved vital and the classic Moto3 battle saw them swap places down the front straight. A lead group of nine was soon formed with David Almansa (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), teammate Muñoz, Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing), Danish, Jesus Rios (Rivacold Snipers Team), Uriarte, Quiles, Carpe, Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia) all trading paint.
At half race distance, Uriarte had got back to the front ahead of Almansa whilst Muñoz was squabbling with Fernandez in similar scenes to Jerez at the end of April. Meanwhile, the lead group’s battling had allowed the second group to close, headed by Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) and Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse), the Irishman starting from 24th on the grid and coming into contention.
Four laps to go and having sat back and watched the fighting, Quiles came to the fore and took the lead before battling with Almansa, Danish, Uriarte and Muñoz. Two laps to go and it was still wide open but it was over for Rios, who fell at Turn 10 on the penultimate lap. At the front and it was Quiles who led onto the final lap and after the Championship leader held on at Turn 5 and Turn 10, it was all coming down to the final corner. Muñoz was in a prime position and dived for the inside, snatching P1 Rossi-style. It wasn’t to be though, a front-end moment gave Quiles the run up to the line to make it three consecutive wins. Carpe nabbed Muñoz on the run to the line with an all-Spanish podium for the second time this season.
Behind the top three, Uriarte clinched a best finish of fourth ahead of Almansa, whilst Morelli came through for sixth. Danish comes away with a best finish yet in P7. Pratama was top Honda in eighth whilst Fernandez holds on to P2 in the standings but could only manage P9, leaving him 64 points adrift of Quiles. O’Gorman rounded out the top ten, a solid ride from the #67.
That's all Barcelona wrote for Moto3, check out full results here for all the scorers and see you at Mugello!