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

Eighth

“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

13th

“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.”

MotoGP 2025
Sprint Race Round 15   Catalunya

Catalan GP - Sprint Race

Dry
Humidity
44%
Track Temp
40°C
Air Temp
28°C
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

www.circuitcat.com

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)