Double DNF in Barcelona for Repsol Honda Team
The MotoGP paddock arrived to dark clouds hanging over the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya but the rain remained at bay. After a productive morning Warm up, where Pol Espargaro finished sixth and Marc Marquez eighth, the scene was set for the Catalan GP.
Marquez was aggressive from the off in the race, working hard to advance up the order and not let the leaders escape. By lap three, Marquez’s RC213V was up to sixth and looking strong. Unfortunately a mistake at Turn 10 would cost Marquez his race as he fell, unable to re-join.
Pol Espargaro had an equally difficult Grand Prix, crashing at Turn 5 early in the race after a busy start. It was a disappointing end to a tricky weekend for Espargaro who had shown flashes of speed throughout.
Both Repsol Honda Team riders escaped injury in their falls and will be back out on track tomorrow, Monday, for a one day test before having a week off to refocus before the German GP on June 20.
Marc Marquez
“My intention today was to start well and push because I thought maybe the others would try to manage their tyres. I gave everything in the beginning because if I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t have slept well today. Ok, I crashed but I showed to myself that I can do it, so this was one positive. Instead of finishing in 12th or 13th place, today was the day to take some risks. Tomorrow we have a test, it’s an important day – more important than today. We keep working and never give up.”
Pol Espargaro
“We are having a tough time, we crashed in the race. We chose the hard tyre which was the best tyre given the conditions that we saw today but we are struggling with grip and we are losing time from this. It was a frustrating race, but we need to keep positive and keep working. We need to turn the situation around, there’s still over half the championship to go. Tomorrow there’s a test and we are looking for big solutions.”
Catalan Grand Prix
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
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Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
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Location Information
In 1989, through the joint collaboration of the Catalan Autonomous Government, the Montmeló Town Council and the Royal Automobile Club of Catalunya (RACC), work began on giving one of Europe’s most beautiful cities a state of the art race track to match. The Circuit de Catalunya opened on the doorstep… read more.
| Length | 4.627 kilometres / 2.875 miles |
| Width | 12 metres |
| Left corners | 5 |
| Right corners | 8 |
| Longest straight | 1.047 kilometres / 0.651 miles |
| Constructed | 1991 |
| Modified | 2018 |
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalunya, Spain - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m38.639s (169.9km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2023) |
| Race Lap | 1m39.939 (167.7km/h) Johann Zarco (Ducati, 2021) |
| Race Time | 40'21.749 (166.1km/h) Miguel Oliveira (KTM, 2021) |
| 2023 Sprint Winner | Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) |
| 2023 Race Winner | Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) |
