Alex Marquez rebounded from his painful sprint crash and beat his elder brother Marc Marquez to a sensational Catalunya MotoGP victory, ending his 15-race winning streak.
The race held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya unfolded over 24 laps marked by strategic battles, tyre gambles, and physical endurance, creating a memorable chapter in the 2025 MotoGP season.
From the moment the lights went out, the atmosphere was electrifying. Alex Marquez had secured pole position by smashing the Barcelona track record in qualifying, setting himself up as a strong contender for the win.
However, at the race start it was Marc Marquez who managed to outbrake his younger brother into Turn 1 and seize the early lead despite Alex’s good launch from pole.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta also got off the line quickly to take third, surpassing Fabio Quartararo who started fourth, while Tech3’s Enea Bastianini surged impressively from ninth on the grid to find himself in fourth position by the end of the opening lap.
Early drama struck at Turn 1 on lap 2 when an incident involving Marco Bezzecchi and Franco Morbidelli led to both riders crashing out after a chain reaction involving Fabio Di Giannantonio.
The initial laps saw the Marquez brothers battling closely at the front with Marc holding the lead and Alex not far behind, refusing to yield.
Behind them Acosta and Bastianini formed a chasing group along with Quartararo, who was soon caught by the Hondas of Johann Zarco and Luca Marini.
Alex soon used the slipstream on the main straight at the start of lap 4 to reclaim the lead from Marc, and this morphed into a tense battle that would see the brothers stretch the gap over the field to more than half a second.
By Lap 11, Acosta had started struggling with his soft rear and his deteriorating pace saw Bastianini execute a brilliant move at Turn 1 to seize third place as the former dropped away from the leading trio.
At the front, the Marquez brothers put on a masterclass of racing with Alex Marquez maintaining a slight but decisive lead as the race neared its conclusion.
A minor error from Marc Marquez on lap 20 allowed Alex to extend his advantage to nearly a second and from there he controlled the race all the way to ultimately claim glory at his home event with a remarkable Catalunya MotoGP victory.
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Marc Marquez cruises to Catalunya Sprint victory as Alex Marquez crashes
The infamous Turn 10 did not cause Alex any trouble this time round, allowing him to cross the finish line 1.740 seconds ahead of Marc and mark his second win of the season.
Behind the duo, Enea Bastianini held firm to secure his first Sunday podium of the season, while Pedro Acosta solidified an impressive KTM showing in Barcelona after finishing a commendable fourth despite falling back.
Further down the field, Fabio Quartararo managed to stabilize his race and secure fifth after losing positions early, marking his best result since the German Grand Prix.
Ai Ogura delivered a much-needed strong finish in sixth for Trackhouse, followed by Francesco Bagnaia who made a phenomenal recovery to claim seventh place after starting from 21st.
Luca Marini finished eighth as the top Honda rider, while Pramac’s Miguel Oliveira secured his first top 10 finish of the season in ninth with reigning World Champion Jorge Martin rounding out the top ten.
Brad Binder, Johann Zarco, Alex Rins and Lorenzo Savadori joined Morbidelli, Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi as the riders who did not complete the race.
Binder’s KTM ride ended early after a loss of control at Turn 7 on lap 8, while Zarco suffered a crash mid race.
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