Catalonia calls. The most exciting sport on Earth, arrives in Barcelona with the top two riders in the World Championship split by a single point. While reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) is sidelined, the scrap between Aprilia Racing teammates Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin is bubbling up nicely as we enter the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya cauldron.

RULED OUT: MM93 UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL SURGERY

Away from the title fight, the headline news coming out of Le Mans and into Barcelona is the absence of home crowd favourite Marc Marquez. The #93 underwent a successful double surgery on his foot and shoulder injuries on Sunday following his Tissot Sprint crash in France, and the seven-time MotoGP World Champion won’t be replaced in Barcelona. Speedy recovery to the champ.

ONE POINT IN IT: BEZ VS MARTIN ROLLS INTO BARCELONA

588 days after his Indonesian Grand Prix victory in 2024, Martin returned to the Sunday top step for the first time since becoming a MotoGP World Champion. And it was some ride – an unreal weekend. A Sprint and Grand Prix double, maximum points haul weekend, which the #89 hasn’t been able to achieve since he did the same at the 2024 French GP. And a clear message to Bezzecchi, and the millions tuning in around the globe, that he’s back. And Martin will be soaking up plenty of support from the Catalan GP crowd this weekend too, the circuit which saw him crowned World Champion in 2024.

The fact that neither he nor Bezzecchi have finished outside the top four on a Sunday this season is a clear sign that they’re in this title race for the long haul. The Italian, who secured back-to-back P2s to support his opening three Grand Prix wins, still tops the championship. But only just. Who leaves Barcelona with the points advantage?

CAN THE CHASERS CLAW POINTS BACK IN CATALONIA?

The chief chaser when you glance at the standings remains Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team). The Italian, remarkably, is the only Ducati rider in the top six after five rounds, and after his penultimate corner move on fourth in the championship Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – including a cheeky look behind, one the #37 vows revenge for – meant ‘Diggia’ moved back ahead of the KTM star by one point. Watch out for that rumbling rivalry.

Talking Points: "Nobody gets past me while looking at me"

Di Giannantonio and Acosta will be desperate for a podium return in Barcelona after being dispatched by a rapid Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) in Le Mans. That podium had been coming, hadn’t it? And it arrived in style. The first Japanese rider to stand on a MotoGP rostrum since 2012, Ogura is now P5 in the championship – and if that pesky qualifying can be sorted out, the 2024 Moto2 World Champion could be a regular victory challenger.

MORE TO COME

Having seen Aprilia clinch a 1-2-3 result on Sunday, Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) lamented slipstream woes in Le Mans, which saw the Spaniard finish P8. Teammate Ogura has leapfrogged the #25 in the championship ahead of a date with Barcelona, so Fernandez will be keen for a response on home turf.

A weekend that promised much more than a Tissot watch and a silver medal? That was the overriding feeling for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in France. Despite the Sunday DNF though, Pecco radiated positivity having shown he was one of the fastest riders all weekend. Time to repeat it, minus the crash, in Barcelona – a track he won at twice in 2024.

Another Ducati rider who suffered a Sunday DNF was Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). The Spanish GP winner, who admitted pre-weekend Le Mans is one of his weaker circuits, couldn’t repeat his Jerez heroics, but keep an eye on the 2025 Catalan GP winner this weekend. We should be seeing more Jerez, less Le Mans, from AM73 on home territory.

ON THE UP

Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), last year’s P3 finisher in Barcelona, is stringing together a solid run of results after a tough opening two Grands Prix. It’s now three Sunday top eights in a row for the Italian, who is just four points behind former teammate Pecco in the championship. Is a podium attack on the cards for ‘The Beast’ this weekend? Meanwhile, on the other side of the Red Bull KTM Tech3 box, we wait to see if Maverick Viñales is back in business – returning to the fold after his injury layoff.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) couldn’t have squeezed much more out of his YZR-M1 for the 300,000 crowd across the weekend in Le Mans. A double top six performance was by far the Frenchman’s best weekend of the season so far, so hopefully those steps forward can be maintained in Montmelo. It’s a track he’s reigned before.

Chipping away after his pre-season injury is Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). A P9 in France was the 2025 Rookie of the Year’s third top 10 of the season, and while that’s not the results Aldeguer is here for, the Spaniard is far from fully fit.

HRC HUNT FORTUNE TURNAROUND

There was more than one sign (again) in France that HRC aren’t far away, but it’s the points that do the talking. The results didn’t reflect the true potential after Joan Mir’s (Honda HRC Castrol) crash from the top six on Sunday, meaning that’s four DNFs in five for the 2020 World Champion. Johann Zarco’s (Castrol Honda LCR) home Grand Prix weekend faded after a table-topping Friday, with the Frenchman and Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) collecting P11 and P10 on Sunday. And having pocketed his first Sprint point on the Saturday, Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) suffered his first DNF on the Sunday. More to come from the Japanese giants.

CRAVING IMPROVEMENTS IN CATALONIA

While it was a very promising Friday for Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in Le Mans, Saturday and Sunday never really got going for the Spaniard. Still, it was points on the board for the #42, Toprak Razgatlioglu and the Turk’s Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP teammate Jack Miller, with all four Yamahas inside the top 15 for the first time this season. Small steps forward.

A step forward is what Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) will be grinding towards in Barcelona, with a P14 in France meaning the Italian is without a Sunday top 10 since Thailand. And despite a Turn 7 crash on Sunday for Brad Binder, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider left Le Mans with added confidence after finding some performance on Sunday. The South African looks to carry that over into this weekend.

There have been some huge twists and turns already in 2026, and Barcelona could give us even more. One single point is the gap on the way in – so who’s stamping their authority on the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya? We’ll find out this weekend.