MotoGP Melter! No quarter given as Fabio Quartararo sweats-it-out at packed Catalan MotoGP
“The first laps will be difficult…”. And the rest as well, Fabio. But…you nailed it. The 2021 world champ is one of the most talented and charismatic racers in MotoGP and the 26-year-old toughed out another episode of the 2025 series. Fabio Quartararo didn’t coat the scale of the task at a vibrant Catalan GP as he motored around with his rivals on the MotoGP parade trailer Sunday morning. The Frenchman has become accustomed to reducing a competitive deficit with his skill and perception of the limits in the last three seasons and was again Monster Energy Yamaha’s leading light on Spanish ground as he throttled to P5.
MotoGP and the shimmering black asphalt of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya again brought the heat. The Monster Energy flagship event forces a heartbeat and holds a vibe unlike other Grands Prix on the 22-date slate. The Monster compound bounced to the rhythm of DJ sets, extreme sports displays, rig riots, Freestyle motocross airtime and the smoke and smell of burnout sessions that only raised the temperatures further.
187,000 fans beeped through the scanners for four days, and when they weren’t sampling cool cans from the top of the Montmelo hillside they were stirred by fifteenth sortie of MotoGP and the continuing might of the Ducati Lenovo team. The Italian giants wrapped up an eighth consecutive Sprint victory on Saturday and Marc Marquez’s incessant wrath on the championship standings means that Ducati scarlet has ruled the Constructors competition for the sixth year in a row.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is notorious for its low grip tarmac but the public at the fences were fully gripped by the blend of speed, noise and strategy with pace and tyre preservation for the 24-laps.
Barcelona has been bright for Quartararo. The sweeping course was the scene of his first Grand Prix win in 2018 (Moto2) and a place where he has tasted MotoGP champagne twice. Yamaha are submerged in a deep development phase to inch closer to the front of the championship: the work involves a brand-new engine concept for the Japanese, which will howl in MotoGP for the first time next week in San Marino. In the meantime, Quartararo, and teammate Alex Rins, as well as Prima Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller, are straining the full potential of the current M1 inline four-cylinder and Quartararo was the more adept as he fought with Japan’s Ai Ogura all the way to the flag for P5. It was a small reward and complemented his excellent runner-up finish in Saturday’s Sprint.
“I could look after the tires and make some moves today; defend on the brakes,” he said. “It was not a bad race even if our grip was really low and we missed a lot in this area. We started the weekend in a difficult way and we finished in another. We need to learn with the team how to be the best in whatever conditions we find.”
It was a downcast afternoon for some of the Italian MotoGP contingent. The VR46 Pertaminaenduro boys – Fabi Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli both slid out and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchihad been turfed into the gravel at Turn 1 after contact with Franco. A gleam of hope came with Francesco Bagnaia’s P7: an improvement for the former double world champion after a rough time trying to find optimal set-up with his Ducati Lenovo GP25. Pecco roamed all the way to the top seven.
“I really would like to arrive in Misano with this kind of speed, this kind of competitivity and see if I can be in the front,” he admitted. “A normal weekend.”
Speaking of contact: Moto3! A wild chase between 5 riders on the final lap was won by a slim 0.081 of a second by Angel Piquerasfor the talented Spaniard’s second triumph in the last three outings.
“A super-important win because on Friday we were struggling a bit with the bike but we made a great step with the setting. This is one of the worst tracks for my riding style so to win here is good for the championship. Now to Misano; which I like a lot, and I won there last year with two Long Laps [penalties]!”
MotoGP will float on the Spanish sea breeze over the Mediterranean and across to the Italian Adriatic coast: the San Marino Grand Prix at the Misano World Circuit – Valentino Rossi country – will send the series fast and yellow in just seven days’ time.
