MotoGP Catalunya: Race preview

Bagnaia and Quartararo lead the charge to Catalunya as MotoGP’s battle of Barcelona awaits for another spectacular weekend of racing.

In the wake of so much talk following Pecco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo) crash in Le Mans, the Italian’s stylish return to the top step on home turf likely felt pretty sweet as Mugello treated us to another Bagnaia vs Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) showdown. Now MotoGP heads to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with 41 points between the two in the standings, in favour of Quartararo, and plenty more to talk about.

Starting with Ducati, Barcelona hasn’t seen a Borgo Panigale win since 2018 and the number 63 seems a good candidate to change that looking at his form at similar venues. Teammate Jack Miller, meanwhile, will just want more from the weekend in whatever form, with only a single point to his name from Mugello. Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini crashed out and now has a slightly bigger deficit at the top of the championship, and Prima Pramac’s Jorge Martin will want more before planning surgery to fix his ongoing issues arising from his big crash last year. Satellite teammate Johann Zarco wants to be more than top Independent Team Ducati on race day, too.

Rookie Marco Bezzecchi, Mooney VR46 teammate Luca Marini and Mugello polesitter Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing), however, probably want more of the same. ‘Diggia’ impressed for pole and then took a good chunk of points just outside the top ten, and Marini put in one of his best races with some choice moves to take a top six. But Bezzecchi stole a few headlines as the rookie led the race, went toe-to-toe with winners and champions, and still only just faded from the podium. He’s now really leading Rookie of the Year.