The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya de MotoGP™ has added another name to its exclusive list of winners, that of Pecco Bagnaia. The Italian took his first victory in the premier class at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and he did so by making up for a difficult start to the Gran Premi after yesterday’s crash, which came on top of last year’s crash.
Despite Bagnaia’s victory, Jorge Martín benefited from the sixth round of the World Championship and scored one more point this weekend than his biggest rival for the title. Local hero Marc Márquez closed the CatalanGP by celebrating his third place in front of the home crowd. A total of 176,684 people enjoyed the event at the Catalan sports facilities over the three days of thrills and spills.
Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team’s third victory of the season is one of those most deserved. The reigning MotoGP™ champion is the king of the long Sunday races and once again proved that he knows how to manage tyres and pressure better than many of his rivals. Pedro Acosta, however, could not say the same today, as the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider crashed out on lap ten when he was running second.
Bagnaia took the lead at the start, with Pedro Acosta and Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac Racing) close behind. Both pushed hard, but Martin was even able to snatch the top position. In fact, both managed to overtake the Italian and escape. Shortly after, with Acosta trying to get back into the race after his crash, Martin and Pecco took over the gold medal spot.
Although Martin led for much of the race, Bagnaia overtook him with six laps to go. At that point, Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia Racing) was third in the standings, but with little chance of victory. A few minutes later, Marc Márquez stunned everyone with his overtaking of Espargaró, securing the final podium position. The Gresini Racing MotoGP rider completed his comeback from 14th on the grid, being one of the few riders to dare to use the soft rear tyre.
Aleix Espargaró, who finished fourth, received a standing ovation from his team and the crowd in the Main Grandstand as he entered his pit box. Fabio Di Giannantonio was fifth, followed by Raúl Fernández (Trackhouse Raxing) and Álex Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP). Raúl Fernández also deserves a special mention, as despite yesterday’s crash he was able to ride in the top five for almost the entire race.
Pecco Bagnaia: “I was very angry after yesterday’s crash. But I saw that I had enough potential to take the win and I gave it all. The riders were pushing hard but towards the end I saw that they had some difficulties and I pushed harder. The bike was perfect and I’m very happy’.
Jorge Martín: “I am very proud of the race. The start was quite good for me and I could go fast but I also had to save tyres. I saw that Pecco was faster than me and when he passed me I tried to put pressure on him, but it wasn’t possible. There was already too much distance between us.”
Marc Márquez: “Choosing the soft rear was a risky decision but it was the only solution to be able to attack from the very beginning. The start wasn’t good but I knew the race was long. When I overtook Aleix I tried to push but the tyre was too bad for me to keep improving. I’m very happy because it’s a difficult circuit and I’m back among the leading riders.”
In addition to the sports protagonists of the day, the Minister of Business and Labour of the Government of Catalonia and President of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Roger Torrent, did not miss the event and spoke to the media about all the changes the Circuit is going through, in line with the Strategic Plan presented in 2022.
Roger Torrent: “In this MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix we have improved in terms of public attendance, reaching the best numbers since the pandemic. And we have done so in a year in which many improvements have been made at the Circuit. One of them is the improvement of the infrastructures from the point of view of sustainability, since we have installed solar panels on almost all the roofs of the Circuit and, in fact, we have the largest photovoltaic installation of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The improvement is not only in sustainability, but also in safety thanks to the collaboration with F1® and MotoGP™, and in the visitor experience. We have made a very important investment; we have made the Circuit ready. We already said it a couple of years ago when we presented the Strategic Plan. A new Circuit was being launched and now this transformation has become a reality, making Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya the best permanent circuit in Europe.”
Moto2™: Ai Ogura wins and Sergio Garcia increases his lead with the fall of Aldeguer
Ai Ogura has achieved today a victory that even he did not expect. Starting tenth and losing some positions at the start, the MT Helmets – MSI rider was able to manage the tyres much better than most of his rivals, although he did not reach the leading position until the last laps of the race. His teammate and championship leader, Sergio García, was the protagonist during the first few laps, but shortly after, Fermín Aldeguer (MB Conveyors SpeedUP) took over the lead. This was a particularly attractive fight, as both are the highest point earners in the intermediate category.
On lap 14 everything took a drastic turn with Aldeguer being given a long lap penalty for exceeding the track limit. He didn’t give it a second thought and when he reached the end of the straight he decided to serve his penalty, with the misfortune of crashing out. García took advantage of the situation to continue on his way and to think coldly about the World Championship. He was unable to secure that first position when he saw an unstoppable Ai Ogura behind him. His teammate overtook him with three laps to go before the chequered flag with a clearly superior pace. Proof of this was the almost four seconds that separated the winner, Ogura, from the second classified, García.
Jake Dixon (CFMoto Inde Aspar Team) took a podium that he hadn’t seen coming either. The Englishman was in a titanic battle with riders such as Jeremy Alcoba (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), who finally finished fourth, and Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), in fifth place. Today, some of the home riders were not as fortunate as the winners. Riders such as Daniel Muñoz, Manu González and Arón Canet joined the group of retired riders along with Aldeguer.
Ai Ogura: “It was unexpected because I struggled all weekend and I felt I didn’t have the pace to be with the fastest guys. Although I lost a few positions at the start, I was able to come back. I saw that other riders were suffering with the tyres and I wasn’t, so I took advantage of it.”
Moto3™: David Alonso scores his fourth victory of the year at the Circuit
David Alonso is beginning to show a personal riding style and, once again, the CF Moto Gaviota Aspar Team rider scored an orchestrated victory in the final laps of the round. The initiative was taken by Ivan Ortolá (MT Helmets – MSI), poleman Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), with Alonso occasionally making his presence felt. However, they were not alone, as the leading pack was as large as 17 riders.
These riders were constantly swapping places at the front and it wasn’t until the last two laps that the large group broke away from each other. Alonso, Ortolá and Veijer made up a small gap, with Holgado, José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) following a few seconds behind. But the latter group were not satisfied, and it was clear with Rueda’s pace in particular.
On the penultimate lap, José Antonio Rueda joined the top 3, but did not stay there. Shortly after, the Spaniard did not think twice and snatched the last podium position from Veijer. Eventually, David Alonso joined the celebration as the first classified rider and Iván Ortolá as second. Alonso, besides being the rider with the most victories so far this year and winning for the second consecutive year at the Circuit, has also taken the lead in the small category of the World Motorcycling Championship.
David Alonso: “I’m very happy, we did a great job this weekend. We arrived with the option of leading the championship and there were more cards in play, so we had to fight. I wanted to take the lead, but just as you can go up you can also go down quickly, the season is very long.”
A sustainable event
The Sustainability Meeting Point platform of the Circuit hosts the 11th edition of KISS (Keep It Shiny and Sustainable) Barcelona programme by FIM Ride Green, organising a series of activities with the collaboration of Dorna, to raise awareness and sensitise the attending public on the care and respect for the environment, within the framework of the SDG 2030 of the United Nations.
The great novelty of this year, compared to previous editions, is that last October the Circuit inaugurated the largest public self-consumption photovoltaic installation in Catalonia. Since then, the Circuit has now a total of 1,239 solar panels that generate 33% of the energy currently consumed.
Other promoted actions are the rental of low-emission generators, the donation of surplus food, the offer of km0 and ecological food, the presence of drinking water sources in the public areas, the improvement of the biodiversity of the green areas, the collaboration with companies with social value, the valorisation and recycling of waste, the promotion of sustainable mobility, the use of the circular economy and many more.
