In preparation for the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, Aleix Espargaro secured pole position for his MotoGP race at home in Barcelona. This denied Pecco Bagnaia, who had a strong qualifying session but had his time deleted due to yellow flags caused by other riders’ crashes. Espargaro, the current winner of the Catalunya Grand Prix, had already set a lap record on Friday and improved even further on Saturday. Behind Espargaro, Bagnaia, and KTM’s Brad Binder, the first row was completed by Tech3 Gas Gas rookie Pedro Acosta. Fabio Di Giannantonio and Jorge Martin also had strong performances in qualifying.
Raul Fernandez, Alex Rins, and Jack Miller had solid performances, while Marc Marquez struggled and was outperformed by his brother Alex in qualifying. Miguel Oliveira and Marco Bezzecchi secured lower grid positions, and Johann Zarco continued to outshine his Honda teammates in qualifying.
Overall, it was a hectic qualifying session, with crashes and yellow flags impacting the final results. The stage is set for an exciting race in Barcelona.
