Catalunya GP Sprint Race reports/results/points + Moto2/3/E

MotoGP 2023

Round 11 – Catalunya

MotoGP Sprint Race Report

Tensions were rocketing as the grid got off onto their warm lap with spots of rain beginning to threaten at Catalunya.

As the lights went out, it was a clean start for Bagnaia and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), and Bagnaia defended the lead from pole as, nevertheless, the two Aprilias fended off the fast-starting Pramac machine. Viñales almost immediately shot through into second past Martin, and Bagnaia, Viñales, Espargaro was the order as they crossed the line for the first time. Espargaro then took over from his teammate at Turn 1 though, the Captain beginning his charge.

Bagnaia powered on though, the odd drop of rain not affecting the track conditions. But the number 41 Aprilia was soon locked on and the duo began to pull away from the rest of the field.

Viñales was initially left to defend 3rd place as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) were snapping at the Spaniard’s heels.

With six laps to go, it was game on in Barcelona as Aleix Espargaro attacked for the lead. And he took it, immediately putting the hammer down in an attempt to break away from the Ducati.

Bagnaia had no answer as the Aprilia stretched out half a second in one lap, doing a Bagnaia – of late – on Bagnaia.

Espargaro proved to be untouchable at the front as he went on to take the Sprint victory by just under two seconds, putting down a pace that not even the reigning World Champion could match. He had his hands full elsewhere.

Viñales was catching the Championship leader as the laps ticked down, and he was bringing Binder with him. Sure enough, Bagnaia fell into the clutches of the chasing Viñales with two laps remaining as it became a Ducati vs Aprillia scrap for 2nd place.

As the last lap arrived, Viñales was riding pillion to Bagnaia as he desperately looked for a way through. Bagnaia put in an incredible defensive performance, however, and was simply too strong on the brakes to allow the Aprilia a chance. He did consider it at the final corner, but no dice.

Binder did all he could to stay in the fight but found himself eight-tenths back from the top three by the time the chequered flag dropped.

Slightly further back, Martin bagged P5 after an eventful Sprint. The Spaniard pushed his way past Oliveira after dropping down the field early on following a run off round Turn 2. Oliveira took sixth, and will be gunning for more on Sunday.

Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), meanwhile, was almost two seconds back from Oliveira in P7, but he nabbed that late as he pulled a VR46 on Mooney VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi at the final corner.

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) picked up the final Sprint point in P9, as the Italian made some more steps back towards the front.

One early moment saw Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) come together in a mid-pack sandwich at Turn 1, with MM93 winning out and the latter duo sent wide. Alex Marquez came back to P10, just ahead of Marc.  Miller spent the rest of the race trying to regain ground and finished the Sprint Race a disappointing 16th.

MotoGP Sprint Race Results

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Aleix Espargaro – P1

“I wish to dedicate this win to our President, Roberto Colaninno. He would have been proud to see where we’ve taken his bike and it is thanks to his support as well that we are able to celebrate such an important team result. I felt good today. Pecco started very strong – so much that I thought I might just stay behind him and have a go in the finale. However, at a certain point I had the confidence to overtake him and set my own pace. Today’s Sprint Race showed me that the true key to the race is the front tyre. Even today, we had to manage it, so with twice as many laps and higher temperatures tomorrow, it will be difficult.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P2

“I’m satisfied because doing more than this was impossible today. Aleix was too fast, and I just tried to close the lines to Maverick to not give him any chance to overtake me, but in any case, I’m happy overall and I understand something for the race tomorrow. It will be important to find some more traction because right now we are losing too much. We are strong in braking but we’re still missing in acceleration, and it will be important to find it for tomorrow.”

Maverick Vinales – P3

“Today’s result is fantastic for all of us. Managing to put two Aprilias on the podium is incredible. I’m happy for all the members of the team and I think it is only right to dedicate it to our President. I’m satisfied with my result even if I wasn’t able to overtake Bagnaia at the end. I tried, but he was very good at defending in braking and I did not want to risk contact. Tomorrow we’ll tackle another demanding race, especially in terms of tyre wear. Already today in the Sprint Race, the front tyre suffered a drop and that may be the element that kept me from being more incisive. In any case, we have a lot of data available to work with now. We know we have the pace to be able to battle for the podium tomorrow too.”

Brad Binder – P4

“I gave everything I had from lap one to the end and when the podium is that close then you dig that extra bit deeper but I had a lot of understeer and had to be careful not to mess it all up. It was a tricky race to manage because you get excited about the possibilities but you also need to stay calm and ride to the limit. I feel like we got everything from today and with just a couple of tweaks for tomorrow then we’ll be ready to try again.”

Miguel Oliveira – P6

“I’m happy about today. For sure, I expected a bit more in the Sprint race, but I couldn’t do more. I finished my front tyre after seven or eight laps, so I couldn’t really turn or brake and I was just trying to avoid crashing. It was really a shame as I had a good speed and pace, but there’s nothing else I can do about it. It’s a good indicator to see two Aprilia’s on the podium, also with my performance today. So, tomorrow we will try to understand what we can do to avoid the front tyre from draining and try to be as fast as we can.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P8

“Not a perfect day: this morning I had some problems with the bike1, I went to the track with the bike2, but I crashed and wasn’t able to try the settings I had planned. I faced qualifying with the same configuration as yesterday, to be sure, but I wasn’t precise. In the race, I am happy for the great start and for the data collected. I was with the soft and I struggle to make the bike turn as I wanted. For tomorrow however I think we will use the medium and I am quite satisfied with the pace with this type of compound.”

Enea Bastianini – P9

“I felt quite good, but the race went as I expected in the sense that I struggled the first two or three laps because I can’t take advantage of the initial grip of the soft tyre, but I got the hang of it and managed to lap quite well with discrete times. In the end, unfortunately, Johann had the medium tyre and he managed to pass me, pulling out a few tenths, but I enjoyed the race, and we took another step forward so I’m happy.”

Alex Marquez – P10

“There’s always some coming together in the sprint race; today I immediately lost the leaders and we didn’t have the pace to bridge the gap in such a short race. We need to improve something especially on the front-end od the bike in order to really be competitive tomorrow, but we’re in the good direction: the feeling was better today compared to yesterday.”

Marc Marquez – P11

“I had an important day today, for me, for my feeling and my confidence. It was just Q1, but we were able to do a really strong lap and be much faster than we expected. In the Sprint race I was able to stay with the top group for half the race more or less, pushing to the limit, but we were able to do it. Both of these things give me a bit of extra motivation to keep carrying out our work in this way. Tomorrow will be a much longer race, so let’s see what we can manage in that.”

Luca Marini – P12

“A difficult race, with the medium on the rear I have struggled more than expected. Considering today’s temperatures, it was not the right choice, but I tried thinking that in the final laps it would pay off compared to the riders on the track with the soft. However, I had very little grip and it was colder than yesterday and this morning. In any case, I recovered some positions and a lot of data for understanding. We are missing something, but we are working hard for tomorrow’s race.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P13

“We did a good race no doubt. Too bad for that coming together with five laps left because we could have bridged the gap with Enea and Zarco and maybe battle for points. We had a good pace and that bodes well for tomorrow’s race.”

Raul Fernandez – P14

“Honestly, we had the same issue with the bike this morning with the vibrations and I couldn’t go fast. We prepared for the Sprint race with the other bike and from the first lap, I felt good with it. I was fighting with Jack (Miller) and lost a lot of time, but then I was able to do around 1:40.3’s and I was really happy because we know we can improve. I am happy that our bike is working well, we saw both factory riders had a strong result. But obviously, we have to work on improving the first part of the race. We can do a really good weekend but if we start bad, it is a problem.”

Franco Morbidelli – P15

“First of all, I got lucky in the first corner. I saw Fabio jetting past in front of me. I was lucky enough to avoid a crash and everything, I‘m happy about that. After that, I was engaged in the race. I was battling with two KTMs and, finally, I was able to arrive in front of them.”

Jack Miller – P16

“Quali was so-so. We were fast but we were towing other people today! Coming to the race I felt OK and my pace was not terrible. We found some more speed this morning. I had a good start but was smashed at Turn 1. I tried to settle in a groove but I’m struggling to find grip and also keep the corner speed at the moment. I’m using ‘rounder’ lines and that means I’m leaving myself open. Anyway, we trying to fix it between my style and the setting. We’re trying to understand what more we need for traction.”

Augusto Fernandez – P17

“Difficult day. I didn’t expect that much of a ‘drop’ from the front tyre. I had a big fight with a few other riders and lost out at the end. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll find something that can help for the longer Grand Prix race and a better rhythm.”

Fabio Quartararo – P18

“It was a tough day. At the start of the Sprint, I tried to brake hard, but it didn‘t go as planned. This weekend we tried so many things on the bike to try to figure out something and find an improvement. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be better. In the last two days, we tried many things, but nothing was going well. I know my potential at this track. To be fighting for the positions I was fighting for today is disappointing. But in the end, we‘re here to fight and to find a solution, and we will try to stay 100% focused for the future.”

Iker Lecuona – P19

“I’m pleased with today’s job. I’ve given my maximum at the Sprint and managed to do better than in the last two races. Ultimately, my main target is to help the team and push as much as possible, and today, I’ve enjoyed the ride. Let’s see if we can take another step for tomorrow’s race!”

Takaaki Nakagami – P20

“Everybody knows we are suffering. The main problem is the lack of grip, and despite we are trying our best to reverse the situation, it’s not easy. I’ve experienced that during the Sprint, although I’ve managed to finish understanding and learning to see if we can take a step forward tomorrow”.

Joan Mir – P21

“Today’s race was very difficult, this is clear. We continued to struggle with grip and the reality is that there are many corners here which highlight our weaknesses. The team and I will spend tonight looking at everything deeply to try and improve the situation for tomorrow. I am still able to brake and enter the corner well, but we need to work on the other areas.”

Pol Espargaro – DNF

“I started badly and in the first corner another rider made a mistake and cleared-out a lot of us. My right wing snapped away and I had a quite a lot of problems with stopping and stability. I recovered as best I could and passed riders but then braked a bit late into Turn 5 and that was it. Not much else to say. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Team Managers

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“Difficult day but not too bad. Difficult because we struggled with the grip but also a good result from Brad who was in the leading group during the Sprint. We were a few tenths from the podium so we have to be happy with that. Jack was so close to making Q2 but we know the slipstream game here. He was hit on the first corner but also lacked some feeling with the front end so we know we need to work on it. We have to remember that Jack only has half a season with the RC16 so he is still understanding all the potential and the settings. No drama. We look ahead with confidence and we will be there for the longer race tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“We have been struggling to find grip around this circuit. Normally this track gets better throughout the race weekend, but this time that‘s not been the case so far. It makes things more difficult for us, especially as our bike is meant to be ridden with high corner speed, which our riders can only achieve when there‘s grip. Starting from P16 and P17 doesn‘t help either, nor did the spots of rain during the warm-up lap. We will look at the data this evening and prepare some solutions that our riders can try during tomorrow‘s Warm Up. During the longer Race, tyre wear will be really important, so that is also something we will focus on.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“A difficult weekend so far at home. This track is very specific with the low grip conditions and the riders are suffering. Augusto struggled to find a consistent pace and we saw a couple of possible solutions during the Sprint. Hopefully we can make some changes and look for some points tomorrow. Pol was quite unlucky. He lost a wing after early contact and the bike was quite nervous. Out of Turn 4 he made a small mistake and went into the gravel. Anyway, his pace was quite good and he’s still confident for tomorrow’s race.”

MotoGP Championship Points

MotoGP Qualifying

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) grabbed another sensational pole position at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, setting a new lap record to just pip home hero Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) to the honours. The battle went down to the wire as Aleix Espargaro had one last shot at overhauling the reigning Champion, but just lost out by a tenth at the flag. In third it’s a first front row with Aprilia for Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team), with the Portuguese rider turning a crash earlier in FP2 into going fastest in that session, fastest in Q1 and then taking third on the grid overall… just 0.005 off second.

MotoGP Qualifying Results

Moto2 Qualifying

Jake Dixon (Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team) denied Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) for pole by less than a tenth. Rounding out the top three was Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), with Championsip Leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) down in ninth and closest rival Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) failing to make it to Q2.

It all got very intense very quickly in the closing stages of the session as red sectors came flying in from every direction. There was a lap cancelled for Acosta which would have put him inside the top five, and Dixon was following Acosta on that very lap as he set the pole position time with two minutes remaining. Strong efforts came in from Canet and Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Mastercamp), but no one was able to better the Brit’s time.

Gonzalez just missed out on the front row by only 0.001s as he’s set to head Row 2 ahead of Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up). Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) will head Row 3 in P7 and will be joined by Sergio Garcia (Pons Wegow Los40) and Acosta, with Barry Baltus (Fieten Olie Racing GP) rounding out the top 10.

Aussie teenager Senna Agius is using his chance to fill in for the injured Darryn Binder to gain further valuable World Championship experience. The Australian is learning with every lap, yet is critical and has high expectations of himself. Considering the gap from his P21 on row seven is just over a second from pole-sitter Jake Dixon.

Senna Agius – P21

“I would have liked to achieve a bit more but that’s just how I am. Still, we made a good step from FP3. Sadly, our Saturday morning started off difficult. It wasn’t quite a disastrous Qualifying for us as we were one second from the front row. In hindsight, this is good. We have to look at the gap distance rather than the final position because we confirmed the direction for the race and there’s no reason why I couldn’t perform a good race. I just need to stay calm, do some analysis tonight, and then do my best in the race tomorrow.”

Moto2 Qualifying Results

Moto3 Qualifying

Saturday at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya saw Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) return to glory as an intense last-minute rush ended with the Spaniard taking his debut pole with a late 1:48.205. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) bagged 2nd place with Joel Kelso (CFMoto Racing Pruestel GP) taking a much-welcomed front row.

The timing screens lit up with red sectors at the sight of the chequered flag as the usual Moto3 shenanigans saw the riders leave it until the very last minute to put in their flying laps. There was a big reshuffle as the mad rush for pole position was underway, and it was Ortola who won that battle as he took his maiden pole.

On the second row, it was Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) who snatched the front spot with Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) joining him in 5th and 6th. Rookie Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was looking strong and snapped up P7, ahead of Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) and Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse) in 8th and 9th. Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) rounds out the top 10.

It wasn’t a great day in the office for the Championship Leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who could only manage P11 and will be looking for more on Sunday. And likewise Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) in P13… just behind Silverstone winner David Alonso (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team).

Moto3 Qualifying Results

MotoE Race One

Classic last-lap action at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya saw a determined Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) snatch victory in Race 1, taking his second win of the season in style. Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) led the way on the last lap but made contact early on that lap with title rival Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team), dropping Torres down to P7 as Casadei duelled Mantovani. Ultimately, Casadei was able to close in on Torres’ Championship lead with an important 2nd place, with Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) fully in the mix as well as he rounded out the podium.

The lights went out for Race 1 in Barcelona and it was poleman Torres that led the way through Turn 1, but the Championship leader had Casadei glued to his rear wheel. The battle was about to commence and the heat was soon turned right up for the front four as Torres, Casadei, Mantovani, and Garzo scrapped it out for the top spots and the last lap quickly came around.

The drama then unfolded at Turn 1: Casadei was desperate to hit the front ahead of Torres and the Italian moved ahead of the Spaniard, taking a tight defensive line into the corner. That saw the title-fighting duo cross paths, forcing Torres to sit up and run on at Turn 1. He slotted back in, but the fight for the win was done.

Casadei led the way but it was Mantovani’s time to shine as he pushed his way past his compatriot to take an incredible victory, with Garzo forced to watch on in third. Ferrari came home in fourth, ahead of Nicholas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40) and Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE), who held on in front of Torres.

MotoE Race One Results

MotoE Race Two

Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) now leads the FIM Enel MotoE World Championship by 21 points after an intense fight for victory ended with another win, and just as title rival Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) made a first mistake of the year with a crash out of contention. Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) took second in Race 2, just pipped by Casadei, as Nicholas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40) got back on the podium with a stunning final corner move on Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE).

With just one round remaining, Casadei now has the upper hand but the title could still go one of three ways as Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) now sits one point behind Torres.

Casadei meant business as the lights went out in Barcelona for the second time, and the Italian got the perfect launch as he led Mantovani and the at-the-time Championship leader Torres through Turn 1. Casadei kept the lead as the race began to settle but had a fight on his hands with his closest Championship rival, Torres, as the duo swapped paintwork and both took turns leading the way. There was a gaggle of riders following the leaders though as Race 2 became a group battle for glory.

The final couple of laps came around quickly, and that’s when the drama hit: a small mistake for Torres had big Championship consequences as he suddenly crashed out of the lead at Turn 5. That left Casadei to battle it out with Mantovani and that he did, muscling into the lead on the final lap and Mantovani unable to launch a late attack.

Not so Spinelli, as the number 29 channeled the number 46 and pulled off a final corner wonder to take third and get back on the podium, picking Garzo’s pocket right at the flag.

Ferrari was forced to settle for fifth in Race 2 but still moves to within a single point of Torres in the standings. However, the two are now both more than 20 points adrift of Casadei, and Misano is right around the corner. Tune in for the deciding season finale at the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini!

MotoE Race Two Results

MotoE Championship Points Standings

Catalunya Grand Prix Schedule
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2023 MotoGP Calendar