Diggia wins intense Catalan MotoGP 

Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) summed up the 2026 Catalan Grand Prix perfectly when he called it “intense” in his post-race debrief. Two sickening crashes, two red flags and three starts show the focus the very best motorcycle racers in the world need to find when things don’t go to plan.

The initial 24-lap grand prix was unfolding into an all-Spanish battle between pole-sitter and Sprint silver medallist Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM), front-row starter and Sprint gold medallist Alex Márquez (Gresini Ducati), Raúl Fernández (Trackhouse Aprilia) and championship contender Jorge Martín (Aprilia Racing).

On lap 12, Acosta had done all the running at the front of the race just as Márquez, who was as low as fifth on lap four, began to look for a way through on the KTM rider to take the lead, with Fernández, Martín, Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) in hot pursuit.

And as the Gresini rider tucked into the KTM’s slipstream on the back straight for the 12th time of asking, Acosta suffered a technical issue and lost power, leaving Márquez with nowhere to go but into the back of Acosta before being forced to jump off his GP26, which then exploded dramatically into countless pieces. The front end of his Ducati bounced back onto the circuit and collected Di Giannantonio, as debris showered the following riders before the inevitable red flag was thrown.

With Márquez conscious and in an ambulance heading to Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Catalunya, where he was diagnosed with a broken right collarbone and a small fracture of his C7 vertebra, the second 13-lap restart got underway without Márquez and Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM), who was forced to retire before the red flag with a technical issue. But the second race barely lasted a few corners after Zarco missed his braking marker for the tricky first turn, taking out Bagnaia and Luca Marini (HRC), and getting tangled in the rear wheel of Bagnaia’s GP26.

And with the Frenchman then bundled into another ambulance with injuries to his left knee and ankle, the third 12-lap restart got underway. And it was once again Acosta who grabbed the holeshot, desperate to finally score his first-ever premier-class victory and not go one better than Colin Edwards, who is currently the premier-class rider with the most podiums without a win in the sport’s history.

Benefiting from a front-row promotion for the restart, Jorge Martín was right on his fellow Spaniard’s tail – keen to make up the points he lost after he ended the Saturday Sprint race in the gravel – ahead of Fernández, Joan Mir (HRC) and Bagnaia. But a bold move on the factory Aprilia rider by Fernández meant they were both taken out of the race when the third restart was just five corners old. Both of them rejoined, but to little effect. Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) struggled for pace most of the weekend; he was down in eighth place after picking up just a single point in the Sprint.

With Mir and Bagnaia both now promoted to podium places, the fastest man on circuit was Di Giannantonio in fourth, half a second behind, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha), Fermín Aldeguer (Gresini Racing) and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing) behind. Di Giannantonio made a move on Bagnaia on lap four to take third place, while Ogura moved through on Quartararo for sixth to start lap five.

It was a mix of the superior top speed of his KTM, his impressive braking ability and his determination to finally stand on the top step of a podium that was keeping Acosta at the front. With Martín circulating in 19th place, Bezzecchi moved up to seventh when he passed Quartararo on lap seven, while Aldeguer relegated Bagnaia to fifth. Although it was a short-lived fifth place, as Ogura dived up the inside on lap eight just as Di Giannantonio nabbed P2 from Mir.

With four laps to go, nothing separated the top three, Acosta riding super defensively as he struggled with edge grip on his RC16. And when Di Giannantonio finally found a way through to the front at Turn 12 with just a bit over two laps to go, Aldeguer was rallying in fourth ahead of Ogura, Bagnaia and Bezzecchi.

With Acosta cleared, Di Giannantonio put six-tenths of a second between himself and the Spaniard on the penultimate lap, and as they started the final circuit, Mir sensed Aldeguer coming and forced a move on Acosta for second place, with Aldeguer also barging through on the number 37, denying the KTM man even a podium. It got even worse for Acosta, who was then taken out by Ogura on the final corner of the final lap, as Di Giannantonio crossed the line to celebrate his first win since Qatar in 2023, with team boss Valentino Rossi watching trackside.

Over the line, it was Di Giannantonio from Mir, Aldeguer, Ogura, Bagnaia and Bezzecchi, but a three-second penalty immediately went to Ogura for causing Acosta’s crash, while a tyre-pressure penalty applied to Mir long after the podium celebrations eventually promoted Aldeguer to P2, Bagnaia to the final podium position and Bezzecchi – who was sixth across the line – to a very fortunate fourth place, with Quartararo rounding out the top five.

And in terms of the championship, the one-point lead Bezzecchi had heading into the weekend is now out to 15 despite his struggles, with 142 points to Martín’s 127. Di Giannantonio is now well and truly in the title fight in third with 116 points. Acosta (92 pts) and Ogura (77 pts) complete the top five. Aussie Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) qualified 11th and finished the third restart in 15th place. He currently sits 23rd overall with two points.

The series now heads to Mugello for Round 7’s Grand Prix of Italy, held over 29–31 May.