Alex Marquez survived a last-lap onslaught from Pedro Acosta to clinch victory in the Catalan MotoGP Sprint race.
Marquez took the lead on Lap 4 of the race and appeared in cruise control, until a late attack from Acosta saw the Gresini rider under pressure on the final lap – ultimately prevailing by 0.041s over the line.
Polesitter Acosta made the best start and cut across the track to stop the momentum from Marquez on the edge of the front row, with the KTM rider holding the lead going into the first corner.
In the middle of the pack, there was immediate chaos at Turn 1, as Brad Binder clipped Fabio Di Giannantonio’s handlebar and crashed out, collecting an unfortunate Joan Mir to end both riders’ race.
Johann Zarco progressed from the second row into second place, with the aggressive lines from Acosta in the lead allowing the Frenchman to tuck under Marquez.
However, the vastly superior pace of the Ducati paid dividends down the main straight as Marquez breezed past Zarco to get back into second.
Raul Fernandez dropped back to fourth on the start, and made a mistake to allow the fast-starting Jorge Martin through before making an aggressive pass back.
Fernandez’s overtake forced both riders wide, with Di Giannantonio taking advantage to get ahead of the pair, before Fernandez regained fourth at Turn 5.
After dropping down to sixth, Martin suffered his fourth crash of the weekend, sliding out to end his Sprint race at Turn 10.
Marquez outdragged Acosta, and although the KTM rider tried to make his bike as wide as possible, the Gresini man was able to hold his line and take the lead of the race on Lap 4.
Raul Fernandez passed Acosta for second place, and appeared to break ahead of the KTM rider in his hunt for a first podium of 2026.
Acosta himself appeared to be struggling, but gained a second wind with four laps remaining, retaking second from Fernandez and looking to chase down Marquez in the lead.
Di Giannantonio also entered the fray with three laps to spare, passing Fernandez on the main straight to move into the final podium position and hoped to keep tabs on the leading pair.
Despite Acosta closing in on the final lap, Marquez held firm and crossed the line to take the Sprint victory by 0.041s.
Acosta was forced to settle for second, while Di Giannantonio completed the podium in third.
Fernandez had an issue with his transponder on the final lap but finished fourth ahead of Zarco in fifth.
Francesco Bagnaia fought well for sixth over the line, while Franco Morbidelli dropped back from the front row to seventh.
Ai Ogura finished eighth after overtaking Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi on the final lap of the race, while Bezzecchi struggled throughout the race and appeared set for a non-points score until Bastianini ran wide and promoted him to ninth.
Luca Marini had a relatively quiet race as he took 11th, with Fermin Aldeguer 12th ahead of Fabio Quartararo in 13th.
Diogo Moreira finished the Sprint as top rookie in a closely-fought battle for 14th, with Alex Rins and Jack Miller trailing in 15th and 16th respectively.
Toprak Razgatlioglu edged Augusto Fernandez in the fight for the final positions, as the Turkish rider claimed 17th ahead of the wildcard in 18th.
Maverick Vinales retired with a technical problem midway through the race and joined Martin, Binder and Mir as the non-finishers from the Catalan Sprint.
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