MotoGP practice results with Pedro Acosta fastest at Catalan Grand Prix but Francesco Bagnaia in Q1

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Pedro Acosta set the pace in the timed pre-qualifying practice session at the 2026 Catalan Grand Prix, but Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin will both have to go in Q1.

Alex Marquez had set the pace during the first practice session of the Catalan Grand Prix weekend earlier on Friday with a 1:39.950. The Gresini star pipped Jorge Martin by 0.349s to set the pace, after the Aprilia racer crashed and did not return to the track at the end of FP1.

Martin took part in practice at the Catalan GP in the afternoon session, despite doctor Angel Charte confirming that the Spaniard was “slightly concussed” and he had a bruise on his left forearm. The 2024 champion ultimately only finished the timed practice session in just P17.

Pedro Acosta leads a very tight practice session at the Catalan Grand Prix… Who will be joining the top 10 in Q2? ⏱️

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Pedro Acosta sets the pace in practice at the 2026 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix

Ducati ace Francesco Bagnaia had a miserable start to his Catalan Grand Prix weekend after finishing in just P17 as Gresini racer Alex Marquez set the pace in FP1 in Barcelona earlier on Friday. Marquez was also 0.940 seconds faster than Bagnaia aboard the same GP26 in FP1.

It only took Bagnaia two laps to make a snap judgment on the changes that Ducati made to his GP26 during the lunch break before returning to the garage at the start of the timed pre-qualifying practice session. Yet fast lap times were still not easily forthcoming for the Italian.

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi revealed to TNT Sports 2 during practice that Bagnaia had felt an unusual “vibration” on his first bike. The two-time MotoGP champion even then found “no grip at all” under acceleration on corner exit after switching onto his second bike.

Marco Bezzecchi started to find his footing around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the early stages of practice. The 2026 championship leader climbed to the top of the order with a 1:39.062 to head Marquez, as Tech3’s Enea Bastianini also showed potential on the KTM.

Franco Morbidelli of VR46 also looked competitive aboard his Ducati GP25, and factory KTM ace Brad Binder also found some positive signs by the middle of the timed practice session. But Trackhouse gem Ai Ogura was the first rider to break Bezzecchi and Marquez’s status.

Ogura got within 0.053s of the benchmark lap time that Bezzecchi penned early in the hour. Yet his potential was only brief and, after recording a slower follow-up lap, Ogura crashed at Turn 2. The 25-year-old folded the front tyre after losing temperature in his Michelin rubber.

Jorge Martin was also cutting a frustrating figure in the Aprilia garage as the track fell mostly silent towards the middle of the session. Martin was unable to find the same speed that he showed in FP1 before his crash, with the Spaniard the slowest out of the four Aprilia riders.

Qualifying simulations started to come early at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as KTM’s Binder lowered the benchmark pace to a 1:38.970 with quarter of an hour still remaining in practice. But as Binder triggered the starting pistol, Alex Rins crashed his Yamaha at Turn 5.

Tech3’s Bastianini joined Binder at the top of the order, too, before Pedro Acosta made it a KTM one-two-three by 0.260s over his factory teammate. Soft rear tyres all round entering the final 10 minutes saw lap times continue to drop, but no riders were able to pip Acosta.

Martin finally started to show some promise again aboard his Aprilia RS-GP, as well, after he got behind teammate Bezzecchi. Marquez of Gresini and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio also started to show the Ducati GP26’s potential to scupper the brief KTM dominance at the top.

Entering the final five minutes and the true flying laps, Bagnaia still found himself in just P19 with a 1.311s deficit to Acosta’s benchmark. And quick laps were still not forthcoming, with the Italian able to only improve to just P15 with a 0.716s deficit with his first flying lap time.

Crashes were also on the cards for Honda’s Joan Mir as the session started to wind down, as well as Martin at Turn 2 after folding the front end with a cold tyre. Martin was audibly and visually frustrated at his crash, as it confirmed the 2024 champion’s place in Q1 on Saturday.

Bagnaia continued to improve his pace to climb into 10th place in the final seconds, but he failed to sneak into the Q2 places as LCR’s Johann Zarco flew to P5. Fabio Quartararo even hauled his Yamaha M1 into P10 to join Jack Miller in the Q2 places, just 0.269s off the pace.

Full practice timesheets at the 2026 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix