2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 20 – Catalunya
Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona
MotoGP Friday Quotes
Francesco Bagnaia – P1
“I can be happy with today: we tried everything we had planned to try and improved our feeling in each run. The temperatures are lower and there’s less grip, but the adjustments we made to the set-up turned out to be positive, hence I’m happy with the work done as well as with the time attack. We will do some fine-tuning tomorrow morning, and we’ll also try the hard tyre to see if it can be a valid option for the sprint race. The main goal right now is to qualify on the front row, which would make things a lot easier, and then we’ll focus on the race.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P2
“A positive Friday even if this morning I found myself a bit back. Compared to the last race here, last summer, we have worked a lot both on the bike and on my riding style. There are many differences, even simply in terms of settings, and some automatic mechanisms were not immediate. In the afternoon I tried to ride as smoothly as possible, I warmed up the tires well and I felt really good. Tomorrow we definitely need another step, many will try to close the gap, but I can also be there with them and do well.”
Aleix Espargaro – P3
“It was a positive Friday. I’m happy and satisfied with my performance, despite the track conditions being complicated because of poor grip due to the low temperatures. In recent races, I’ve struggled on Friday, becoming more competitive on Saturday, but I knew that I would need to give one hundred percent today. My team played a fundamental role, with crew chief Antonio Jiménez convincing me to make a front tyre change at the last minute which allowed me to do an outstanding flying lap.”
Johann Zarco – P4
“It’s been one of the best laps of the season, honestly. Besides, getting a good lap before the end of the session was important. I couldn’t improve and get the top 3, but it’s already a huge step; we can be satisfied today. I’m happy with how we’ve managed practices and hope to continue doing this job the rest of the weekend”.
Jorge Martin – P5
“Today was a strange day. I think we never raced here in Barcelona with this condition. So I think we had a lot of work to do with the different tyres, and it was, you know, I think was more strange in terms of schedule and organising a bit the practice. I was struggling to get a bit the confidence on the left side, but finally, as soon as I get it, the pace was, was good. It was fantastic. I also tried different out of different tyres on the rear. I think I was the only one on the hard rear. So I think we will have to take the possibilities and yeah, I struggled a bit to put the power on the ground, but I know where to go and how to improve tomorrow.”
Maverick Vinales – P6
“Unfortunately, in the final time attack, I encountered two yellow flags which kept me from improving my time. I think that we are more competitive than the race we did here in May. This season I have always managed to take full advantage of the bike on Friday, demonstrating consistency and a good level. Being in Q2 throughout the entire year is extremely positive.”
Alex Marquez – P7
“It was a fun day. We tried several things this morning and, in the afternoon, the feeling was positive. Obviously, the track is very different, condition-wise, compared to last May, but we’re in a good moment and we showed it today. There’s still work to do, and we’ll be back on track tomorrow with the goal to improve some more, without the pressure of having to make it into Q2.”
Marc Marquez – P8
“Even though the conditions were very different compared to last May, I’m still having a challenging time at this track. We’re losing a lot of time in the second half of the track, but we have an idea on what to work on tomorrow. Despite all of the above, unlike last time we’re in Q2 at the first try, so at least we’ll have a head start compared to a few months ago.”
Pedro Acosta – P9
“Track conditions are very different to the last time we were in Barcelona, so of course the grip was very different. We were struggling a bit with the time attacks, but we managed to get the job done, although the front tire situation is pretty dramatic, and we need to find a solution. However, the pace was not bad, so let’s continue working.”
Enea Bastianini – P10
“It was quite a challenging day as we went through several tyre combinations to understand which one worked better. The situation at the front-end is quite clear as I like both medium and hard options, while we’ll have to keep working on the rear-end tomorrow morning. We know we’re losing time in the third sector and that’s where our focus will be, but we’re in a good position in the rest of the track. I feel a lot more comfortable with cooler conditions here at Montmeló and I hope this can work in our favour. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow.”
Jack Miller – P11
“Semi happy with today, thankfully remembered how to ride. Missed out on Q2, need to fix the last sector but the bike is feeling pretty decent.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P12
“I’m happy to see myself in these positions. Today, we were first in the morning, and it was a nice way to start the weekend. I knew the afternoon would be harder, but despite a lack of rear grip, we are quite close to the top 10, which is positive. We need to keep working and see what tomorrow can bring us”.
Fabio Quartararo – P13
“I think it was really tough today. It was complicated to make a good lap time. The feeling was good, but we are lacking in some areas. It will be difficult to get a place in Q2 and make some great races this weekend. I think that tomorrow morning the lap times will immediately be faster, but I don’t think they will be at the level of qualifying here back in May. But we shall see. For sure, we will give it our 100%.”
Alex Rins – P14
“Honestly, it was a big challenge. It was a big question mark if our package would be better or not this weekend. For sure, this GP is quite crucial for us. We can compare data of a different bike that we used in Round 6 when we were riding here back in May. We are struggling more than we were in the first Montmeló GP weekend. So, we need to find a way to improve. We need to keep working and analysing.”
Luca Marini – P16
“Overall we have been able to have a productive day and understand the situation of our weekend, good to start building the base. With the soft tyre the grip is unbelievable, especially in the first lap. The track is in a strange condition; I think there was a car race here last week, so it felt a bit weird. It’s not worse, just different and I think it will keep improving as the weekend goes on. I think that the performance of Zarco and also Taka are very encouraging for us, it shows that there is speed and potential in our package and we just need to keep working to unlock it all.”
Joan Mir – P18
“I crashed with my second tyre in the ‘qualifying’ of today which certainly limited how competitive we were. Tonight, we need to check what happened and compare the second tyre, I was feeling strong with the first tyre and make a pretty good lap. The performance of the bike improved over the course of the day but we still have a bit of work to do with the rear grip. There’s margin to improve and I think we can make quite an interesting Qualifying tomorrow. It will be important to see how the temperature and grip changes from today to tomorrow.”
Raul Fernandez – P19
“Today was a typical Friday for us. We always struggle on the first day, but after that we find some solutions. It’s really strange, because we have information from this year at this track already although the temperatures and tires are a bit different compared to the first race here. Yet, the others are there and we lost quite a lot and we need to analyze everything, see what we can do and I also have to see what I can improve and do more. For the future, we still need to anticipate more on Friday – I didn’t feel at ease with the bike today and I wasn’t really competitive.”
Miguel Oliveira – P20
“I’m a bit sore in my right wrist, but I guess I expected much worse. I could ride, I could get the feeling back in the body and in the mind especially. The time attack was still a bit confusing, but the potential is there to improve for tomorrow, so I’m happy for that. I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Augusto Fernandez – P21
“The crash with Pedro this morning was strange – I was on the outside, and crashed. I spoke with him after and we were good. I did not see him, he did not see me either when I was outside, but it was not the ideal way to start the weekend. I expected to feel much better on the bike coming from an acceptable pace in Malaysia, but I just had a bad feeling today, and I felt like I could crash at any time. I was just on the limit all day. I am hoping that we can try to turn things around for tomorrow.”
Michele Pirro – P22
“A bit of a shocking start, then a crash. I wanted to keep the tyres warm, but the brakes weren’t ready, and I lost confidence. I then tried to close the gap, for tomorrow we definitely have the potential to be further ahead and get closer to the Top 15, but it’s the first time this season that I’ve raced in the group and the sensations, especially in terms of aerodynamics, are completely different. In any case, I’m happy to be here, I missed riding with the others. Tomorrow we have a couple of points where I can make a step.”
Stefan Bradl – P23
“One final race for the season. We have been working a lot in private tests and there are still a few things to prepare in order to give all of the Honda HRC riders the best possible situation on Tuesday. This is always a challenging track for us with the relatively low grip, so it’s good to have a race here to keep working on some of our weaker points. Tomorrow we push for more.”
Team Managers
Paolo Bonora – Aprilia
“A great start with both our riders directly in Q2. This is a special race for Aprilia Racing, the last for Aleix and Maverick, and we want to finish in the best possible way. The goal is to aim for a strong qualifying session and good results in both the sprint and the main race.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“We didn’t have the start we had hoped for. We had seen improvements in recent GP weekends, so we were keen to see how the bike updates would work here. However, we struggled more than we anticipated. We will have to keep working hard for tomorrow’s Q1 session, because we expect that it will be a tough battle for those top two spots. We need to better our overall performance to secure the best possible starting position for the final Sprint and Race.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“Of course, we are pleased that Miguel is back and able to ride after he was given the green light at the medical check. He does not feel fantastic but, having said that, it is good to see him out on track and trying to get up to speed with his bike again which is his priority at the moment. For tomorrow, he is hopeful that he can improve as he gets more feeling back so that is the aim. For Raul, it has been disappointing! We expected more after he did such a fantastic race here, earlier in the season. Clearly, he struggled, big time, with rear traction under acceleration so let’s hope we can find a solution for tomorrow and be closer to the front as we do not want to be P19 and P20, especially when you are fit and it’s a home race – you want to do better than that but, at the moment, we have to face that it is our position. Of course, the Aprilia is working quite well as we can see with Maverick (Vinales) and Aleix (Espargaro) are close to the front so let’s see if we can learn something from them to allow us to improve a lot for tomorrow.”
MotoGP Practice
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) set the pace on Friday to land an important early jab on World Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), as the latter managed to hold onto a fifth place finish after encountering some Turn 5 troubles deep into Practice. It’s job done in terms of getting into Q2 without too many issues for Martin, but there’s plenty of room for improvement for the rider who sits 24 points clear of the current #1 with the biggest Saturday of the season firmly on the horizon.
Operating inside the top three on Day 1 was second fastest – and one of Bagnaia’s chief allies – Marco Bezzecchi. The Italian was on song in Practice as he aims to bid farewell to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team with a podium finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. And if Day 1 is anything to go by, then the Italian is looking good to challenge for just that.
P3 went the way of Catalan GP Tissot Sprint winner Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) after the retiring home hero set a strong lap in the closing stages to sit 0.107s off Bagnaia’s lap. The three quickest riders on Friday all used different specification front tyres.
Following a relatively quiet opening three-quarters of the session as the riders flicked through their respective programmes, the session really kicked into sixth gear with just under 15 minutes remaining. Martin climbed to a familiar P1 with a 1:39.652 and on his next flyer, a 1:39.214 was landed to see the World Championship leader sit 0.330s clear of Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing). At this stage (10 minutes to go) Bagnaia was fifth, just under half a second down on his title rival’s effort.
That three-tenth advantage was slashed to just 0.010s as Viñales improved. Then, one of the standout riders of the season demoted Martin to P2. Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) set a 1:39.197 to grab top spot, with the top five now split by less than a tenth. Those were Zarco, Martin, Viñales, Bagnaia and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP).
Heading into the final four minutes, Martin couldn’t get a lap going and at Turn 5, the Spaniard produced a more than decent front-end save. Martin cut a frustrated figure as Bezzecchi propelled his GP23 to P1 before Bagnaia went 0.080s quicker than his compatriot to pinch P1 off his VR46 Academy stablemate.
With a minute to go, Martin was P5 and not going any quicker, but he looked out of danger in terms of not getting into Q2. No one else was improving enough to trouble the sharp end of the time-sheets, so it was job done for the front runners. Bagnaia top of the class on Friday, and Martin was fifth without too many dramas.
Zarco’s incredibly impressive Friday afternoon stint saw the Frenchman keep hold of P4 ahead of Martin, with Viñales, Alex Marquez, his team-mate Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) acting as the other riders who clinched automatic Q2 spots, as Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) missed out in P11 by just 0.021s.
MotoGP Practice Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | F Bagnaia | DUCATI | 1m38.918 | 351.7 |
| 2 | M Bezzecchi | DUCATI | +0.080 | 350.6 |
| 3 | A Espargaro | APRILIA | +0.027 | 352.9 |
| 4 | J Zarco | HONDA | +0.172 | 351.7 |
| 5 | J Martin | DUCATI | +0.017 | 354.0 |
| 6 | M Viñales | APRILIA | +0.010 | 352.9 |
| 7 | A Marquez | DUCATI | +0.071 | 348.3 |
| 8 | M Marquez | DUCATI | +0.066 | 350.6 |
| 9 | P Acosta | KTM | +0.057 | 356.4 |
| 10 | E Bastianini | DUCATI | +0.049 | 350.6 |
| 11 | J Miller | KTM | +0.021 | 351.7 |
| 12 | T Nakagami | HONDA | +0.268 | 343.9 |
| 13 | F Quartararo | YAMAHA | +0.035 | 349.5 |
| 14 | A Rins | YAMAHA | +0.003 | 349.5 |
| 15 | F Morbidelli | DUCATI | +0.016 | 349.5 |
| 16 | L Marini | HONDA | +0.184 | 351.7 |
| 17 | B Binder | KTM | +0.020 | 356.4 |
| 18 | J Mir | HONDA | +0.111 | 350.6 |
| 19 | R Fernandez | APRILIA | +0.014 | 348.3 |
| 20 | M Oliveira | APRILIA | +0.265 | 351.7 |
| 21 | A Fernandez | KTM | +0.231 | 348.3 |
| 22 | M Pirro | DUCATI | +0.151 | 345.0 |
| 23 | S Bradl | HONDA | +0.242 | 346.1 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Martin | 485 |
| 2 | Bagnaia | 461 |
| 3 | Marquez | 369 |
| 4 | Bastianini | 368 |
| 5 | Acosta | 209 |
| 6 | Binder | 206 |
| 7 | Viñales | 189 |
| 8 | Di Giannantonio | 165 |
| 9 | Morbidelli | 161 |
| 10 | Marquez | 155 |
| 11 | Espargaro | 146 |
| 12 | Bezzecchi | 144 |
| 13 | Quartararo | 108 |
| 14 | Miller | 84 |
| 15 | Oliveira | 71 |
| 16 | Fernandez | 66 |
| 17 | Zarco | 53 |
| 18 | Rins | 31 |
| 19 | Nakagami | 31 |
| 20 | Fernandez | 27 |
| 21 | Mir | 21 |
| 22 | Marini | 14 |
| 23 | Espargaro | 12 |
| 24 | Pedrosa | 7 |
| 25 | Bradl | 2 |
| 26 | Gardner | 0 |
| 27 | Iannone | 0 |
| 28 | Savadori | 0 |
Moto2
0.231s is the advantage Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) holds heading into Saturday at the Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona after the Spaniard set a 1:42.426 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) P2 on his final Friday with the Aspar outfit, as Manuel Gonzalez (Gresini Moto2) claimed third as the Spaniard goes hunting for a third place Championship finish.
After claiming a phenomenal podium in Malaysia, Jorge Navarro (OnlyFans American Racing) kicked off his Solidarity GP with a P4 in Practice 1, as Sepang winner Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completed Friday’s fastest five.
Newly crowned World Champion, Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI), had a solid outing to end the day in P6, one place ahead of the returning Fermin Aldeguer (Sync SpeedUp) as both look to end their Moto2’s careers on a high before jumping into MotoGP action on Tuesday.
Senna Agius finished the opening day 16th on the time-sheets.
Moto2 Practice One Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | A Canet | Kal | 1m42.426 | 290.3 |
| 2 | J Dixon | Kal | +0.231 | 291.1 |
| 3 | M Gonzalez | Kal | +0.293 | 290.3 |
| 4 | J Navarro | Kal | +0.298 | 294.2 |
| 5 | C Vietti | Kal | +0.388 | 295.8 |
| 6 | A Ogura | Bos | +0.551 | 294.2 |
| 7 | F Aldeguer | Bos | +0.555 | 290.3 |
| 8 | D Moreira | Kal | +0.677 | 292.6 |
| 9 | F Salac | Kal | +0.731 | 292.6 |
| 10 | A Lopez | Bos | +0.827 | 294.2 |
| 11 | Z Goorbergh | Kal | +0.941 | 291.8 |
| 12 | A Arenas | Kal | +0.990 | 291.8 |
| 13 | T Arbolino | Kal | +0.990 | 295.0 |
| 14 | S Garcia | Bos | +1.032 | 290.3 |
| 15 | M Ramirez | Kal | +1.118 | 296.7 |
| 16 | S Chantra | Kal | +1.133 | 289.5 |
| 17 | D Öncü | Kal | +1.144 | 298.3 |
| 18 | I Guevara | Kal | +1.204 | 294.2 |
| 19 | S Manzi | Kal | +1.217 | 296.7 |
| 20 | S Agius | Kal | +1.321 | 291.8 |
| 21 | D Muñoz | Kal | +1.329 | 291.1 |
| 22 | M Aji | Kal | +1.453 | 291.1 |
| 23 | J Masia | Kal | +1.516 | 291.8 |
| 24 | B Baltus | Kal | +1.736 | 293.4 |
| 25 | R Garcia | Kal | +2.295 | 291.8 |
| 26 | X Cardelus | Kal | +2.355 | 291.8 |
| 27 | D Binder | Kal | +2.380 | 294.2 |
| 28 | S Corsi | Kal | +2.568 | 292.6 |
| 29 | A Escrig | For | +2.927 | 288.7 |
| 30 | X Artigas | For | +2.969 | 288.7 |
| 31 | D Foggia | Kal | +3.071 | 296.7 |
| 32 | A Migno | Kal | +4.079 | 290.3 |
Moto2 Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | A Ogura | 261 |
| 2 | A Canet | 209 |
| 3 | S Garcia | 181 |
| 4 | F Aldeguer | 175 |
| 5 | M Gonzalez | 175 |
| 6 | A Lopez | 171 |
| 7 | C Vietti | 165 |
| 8 | J Dixon | 155 |
| 9 | J Roberts | 153 |
| 10 | T Arbolino | 146 |
| 11 | M Ramirez | 111 |
| 12 | S Chantra | 98 |
| 13 | A Arenas | 80 |
| 14 | J Alcoba | 79 |
| 15 | D Moreira | 64 |
| 16 | S Agius | 63 |
| 17 | F Salac | 62 |
| 18 | I Guevara | 60 |
| 19 | D Binder | 54 |
| 20 | D Öncü | 49 |
| 21 | B Baltus | 40 |
| 22 | Z Vd Goorbergh | 31 |
| 23 | J Navarro | 27 |
| 24 | D Foggia | 18 |
| 25 | X Artigas | 10 |
| 26 | A Sasaki | 7 |
| 27 | B Bendsneyder | 7 |
| 28 | J Masia | 4 |
| 29 | M Aji | 4 |
| 30 | M Ferrari | 1 |
| 31 | X Cardelus | 0 |
| 32 | M Schrotter | 0 |
| 33 | A Escrig | 0 |
| 34 | M Pasini | 0 |
| 35 | H Voight | 0 |
| 36 | D Muñoz | 0 |
| 37 | H Azman | 0 |
| 38 | U Orradre | 0 |
Moto3
Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) topped the Moto3 timesheets in Practice 1 thanks to a 1:46.568, but it wasn’t by much as compatriot David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) lapped within a tenth. Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) slotted his Honda inside the top three, just under two tenths away from Holgado’s pace.
Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) and Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) bagged top five results on Friday as the latter aims to beat Holgado on Sunday to the 2024 silver medal honour. The duo sit tied on points ahead of qualifying and the race.
David Alonso (CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team) had a quiet day at the office, ending the day just on the right side of the Q2 cut line in P14. The Colombian will be hoping to find some improvements in Practice 2 to climb the timesheets ahead of qualifying
Jacob Roulstone scored his best result of the season with a brilliant 8th position last time out, equaling the Americas GP. Friday started pretty well for the Australian who was in the top 10 of the opening Free Practice with a 1’48.334. In a tight Practice 1, the Australian found margin to improve as he took his time down to a 1’47.288 in his last flying lap. That placed him in P15 heading to qualifying day, but he is just 0.7 seconds away from the fastest lap of the opening day.
Jacob Roulstone – P15
“I was really happy with our first session this morning, which I think was very beneficial for myself. We tried different tyres, and we found good solutions leading into Practice 1. I am a bit annoyed to be just outside of the Q2 spots, 0.04 seconds away. I made a few mistakes on my fast laps, so I need to review all of this on my side. Otherwise, the bike felt great, so let’s study the mistakes made today to try having a better Saturday, and hopefully head to Q2.”
Moto3 Practice One Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | D Holgado | Gas | 1m46.568 | 247.7 |
| 2 | D Munoz | Ktm | +0.081 | 248.8 |
| 3 | A Piqueras | Hon | +0.174 | 248.8 |
| 4 | J Kelso | Ktm | +0.242 | 243.7 |
| 5 | C Veijer | Hus | +0.287 | 241.0 |
| 6 | A Fernandez | Hon | +0.338 | 247.1 |
| 7 | J Rueda | Ktm | +0.351 | 243.7 |
| 8 | S Ogden | Hon | +0.388 | 244.8 |
| 9 | S Nepa | Ktm | +0.426 | 247.7 |
| 10 | D Almansa | Hon | +0.464 | 247.7 |
| 11 | R Yamanaka | Ktm | +0.523 | 246.5 |
| 12 | M Bertelle | Hon | +0.565 | 246.5 |
| 13 | I Ortola | Ktm | +0.644 | 243.7 |
| 14 | D Alonso | Cfm | +0.672 | 242.1 |
| 15 | J Roulstone | Gas | +0.720 | 244.3 |
| 16 | T Suzuki | Hus | +0.796 | 246.5 |
| 17 | N Carraro | Ktm | +0.803 | 248.8 |
| 18 | L Lunetta | Hon | +0.830 | 250.0 |
| 19 | F Farioli | Hon | +1.019 | 244.8 |
| 20 | R Rossi | Ktm | +1.135 | 247.1 |
| 21 | T Furusato | Hon | +1.247 | 241.0 |
| 22 | M Uriarte | Cfm | +1.329 | 247.1 |
| 23 | X Zurutuza | Ktm | +1.833 | 244.3 |
| 24 | E O’shea | Hon | +1.940 | 246.0 |
| 25 | N Dettwiler | Ktm | +1.973 | 243.7 |
| 26 | A Carpe | Ktm | +2.002 | 247.1 |
| 27 | T Buasri | Hon | +2.554 | 243.7 |
Moto3 Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | D Alonso | 396 |
| 2 | D Holgado | 236 |
| 3 | C Veijer | 236 |
| 4 | I Ortola | 217 |
| 5 | D Muñoz | 162 |
| 6 | A Fernandez | 153 |
| 7 | A Rueda | 144 |
| 8 | A Piqueras | 137 |
| 9 | J Kelso | 134 |
| 10 | T Furusato | 128 |
| 11 | R Yamanaka | 120 |
| 12 | L Lunetta | 112 |
| 13 | S Nepa | 93 |
| 14 | T Suzuki | 88 |
| 15 | J Roulstone | 58 |
| 16 | M Bertelle | 56 |
| 17 | J Esteban | 45 |
| 18 | R Rossi | 33 |
| 19 | F Farioli | 32 |
| 20 | S Ogden | 23 |
| 21 | N Carraro | 22 |
| 22 | D Almansa | 16 |
