Barcelona MotoGP Friday Practice Results: Pedro Acosta tops, Jorge Martin in Q1

KTM’s Pedro Acosta topped the timesheets in Friday’s Practice for the 2026 Barcelona MotoGP, while Jorge Martin’s day ended in frustration after two crashes and a place in Q1.

The Spaniard paced his Red Bull KTM RC16 to a 1:38.710s flyer beating Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez by 0.018 seconds in an extremely close session where the top 10 were separated by only 0.269 seconds.

Friday’s action opened under chilly conditions, and the first statement came in FP1 from Alex, who set the pace early and then reaffirmed it with a stronger late run to finish the session on top.

Le Mans MotoGP winner Jorge Martin initially looked competitive in the morning and briefly led the session, but his first major setback came at Turn 12 where he crashed and ended up visiting Dr. Angel Charte before returning to the box and rejoining the track for a practice start.

Pedro Acosta also had his own early incident in FP1, crashing at Turn 2, while KTM teammate Brad Binder later went down at the same corner as the track proved tricky in the cooler grip conditions.

By the end of FP1, Alex Marquez had controlled the session ahead of Martin, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Acosta and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi, with the top five largely setting their best laps early rather than during the late charge.

Afternoon’s practice was where the real drama unfolded. The first half of the session saw riders building rhythm and testing race setups with Aprilia looking strong for a stretch as Bezzecchi led the way and Ai Ogura impressed before crashing at Turn 2 and switching to his spare bike.

The KTM charge gathered force as the clock wound down with Binder posting the first lap in the 1:38s, while Acosta began to stack together a series of flyers that put him at the front of the timesheets.

Enea Bastianini also ran strongly for much of the session, and at various points the top group included Alex Marquez, Di Giannantonio, Joan Mir, Raul Fernandez and Franco Morbidelli, all of whom were fighting to secure a Q2 slot.

Acosta’s decisive lap came in the final 10 minutes, enough to beat Marquez by just 0.018 seconds, while Brad Binder completed a highly productive KTM top-three, making it one of the strongest collective Fridays the factory has had in recent times.

Raul Fernandez grabbed fourth for Trackhouse Aprilia, while Johann Zarco led the Honda charge in fifth, as Di Giannantonio secured sixth, just ahead of Bezzecchi. Honda’s Joan Mir was eighth but later crashed at Turn 10, as Yamaha secured the last two Q2 slots thanks to Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo.

The biggest shock of the day came from Martin, who crashed at Turn 2 with three minutes to go, ending up in Q1.

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Full 2026 Barcelona MotoGP Friday Practice Results