Points and progress for Marini in Montmelo
Strong foundations set Luca Marini up for a successful Sprint Saturday in Barcelona, taking points as Joan Mir battled forward.
Explosive MotoGP World Championship action punctuated the day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the Honda HRC Castrol team topped sessions and put themselves into the heart of the action. Times were tight and if the Sprint is a preview of what to expect, Sunday’s full-length Grand Prix be a true test for the entire grid.
Luca Marini’s Friday efforts again paid dividends as the Italian passed directly into Q2, avoiding a Q1 with four MotoGP World Champions and securing tenth on the grid with a best time of 1’38.327. From the head of the fourth row, the #10 made another strong start aboard his Honda RC213V machine and immediately began a race-long battle with Johann Zarco for top Honda honours. They were joined during the mid-stages of the race by Fermin Aldeguer and Marco Bezzecchi before the pair suffered a collision. Crossing the line in eighth, Marini continues his steady comeback in the championship standings and now sits 12th overall.
The day started on the highest of highs for Joan Mir, the 2020 World Champion leading Free Practice 2 in the morning and showing very competitive pace. Setting a time of 1’38.214 in Q1 demonstrated just how difficult this session can be as Mir finished in seventh – despite being a tenth faster than his teammate’s qualifying time from Q2. The fighting was fierce for Mir and the riders behind as the Sprint began, the #36 clawing his way up to 13th place as he held back Francesco Bagnaia. A three-place penalty for disturbing another rider at Turn 5 earlier in the day means Mir will start Sunday’s race in 20th.
Now Warm Up and 24-laps of the Catalan GP are all that remain of the weekend, a final chance for Marini and Mir to show their speed and the improvements of the Honda RC213V before heading to Misano.
Luca Marini
“The second group that we are in all has a very similar pace, starting further up the grid is a big help so I am really happy with how we have worked to arrive here. It’s a satisfying result so far, it really shows our development with the bike compared to last year and finally, that’s what this project is about. There is still more to do, of course, but we have to understand how we are improving. I tried something on Zarco right at the end, but it was really on the limit and he got back past me – but an enjoyable race with the battle. Tomorrow’s race will be long and everyone will need to pay attention to the tyres, we know what we have to do between now and then.”
Joan Mir
“This morning, running alone without any help, we had some serious pace and it showed that in the race if we can go like this, we can fight for something serious. Something more than the top five. We saw some shining moments today, but honestly, I am not happy with our performance. Now, we need to improve how our front tyre is reacting during the race because the feeling changed a lot through the race and I wasn’t confident as I was in the morning. Today has been encouraging on one side, but on the other side it was tough because we, as Honda, need to improve our situation in Qualifying. I had the feeling today that I could do a lot more, that’s why today has been frustrating.”
Catalan GP - Sprint Race
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 12 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 19'58.946 |
2 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 9 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1.299 |
3 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 7 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 3.653 |
4 | Acosta Pedro | 37 | SPA | 6 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 5.868 |
5 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 5 | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 5.913 |
6 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 4 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 5.943 |
7 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 3 | LCR Honda | Honda | 7.017 |
8 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 2 | Honda HRC Castrol | Honda | 7.346 |
9 | Ogura Ai | 79 | JPN | 1 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia | 8.488 |
10 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 0 | Prima Pramac Yamaha | Yamaha | 8.578 |
11 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 0 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia | 9.788 |
12 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 0 | Prima Pramac Yamaha | Yamaha | 10.165 |
13 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | 0 | Honda HRC Castrol | Honda | 11.593 |
14 | Bagnaia Francesco | 63 | ITA | 0 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 14.463 |
15 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 0 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 15.936 |
16 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 0 | HRC Test Team | Honda | 16.909 |
17 | Vinales Maverick | 25 | SPA | 0 | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 17.040 |
18 | Chantra Somkiat | 35 | THA | 0 | LCR Honda | Honda | 22.439 |
19 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | DNF | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | DNF |
20 | Aldegeur Fermin | 54 | SPA | DNF | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | DNF |
21 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | DNF | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | DNF |
22 | Savadori Lorenzo | 32 | ITA | DNF | Aprilia Test Team | Aprilia | DNF |
23 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | DNF | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | DNF |
24 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | DNF | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | DNF |
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 | 1m37.536s (171.8km/h) Alex Marquez (Ducati, 2025) |
Race Lap | 1m39.664 (168.2km/h) Pedro Acosta (KTM, 2024) |
Race Time | 40'11.726 (166.8km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati,2024) |
2025 Sprint Winner | Marc Marquez (Ducati) |
2024 Race Winners | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) / Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |