MotoGP hits Catalunya this weekend! Full preview and AEST schedule

MotoGP 2023

Round 11 – Catalunya – Preview

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was built in 1991, for the 1992 Summer Olympics. It was used, among other things, as the start and finish line for the road cycling team time trial. Since then it has been the scene of many motor sport events, and a motorcycle Grand Prix has been held there every year since 1996.

Last year, it was Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) who won a race marked by hot weather and a track temperature of 55°C. The French rider took command of the Grand Prix from the first corner and led to the finish line.

Last year the Grand Prix took place at the beginning of June, so with this year’s race at the beginning of September, there could be some differences – especially in terms of temperature.

This weekend Catalunya hosts the first in a back-to-back with Misano before MotoGP then heads for India, Japan, and two triple-headers across three continents to bring the curtain down on season 2023.

Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia left Red Bull Ring with a perfect scorecard for the round, now it’s on the chasing pack to see if they can halt the defending champ’s charge. Catalunya though has never been a happy hunting ground for Bagnaia.

Francesco Bagnaia

“I am happy to be back racing at Montmeló. Last year, we could have had a good race, but I was involved in a crash in the first corner and then forced to retire. After the perfect weekend in Austria, we have all the conditions to do well here as well: the feeling with the bike is great, and my team is working well; they always give me what I ask for and put me in a position to be competitive. Let’s see how the weather will be, but in any case, we are ready to face the weekend in any condition.”

Jorge Martin is still second overall in the championship despite some difficulties in Austria, but that gap has grown once more. Still, Martin is one of the few on the grid who has gone toe-to-toe with Pecco this season and come out on top, in some style too, he also took second last year in Barcelona.

Marco Bezzecchi, meanwhile, also lost out in that Turn 1 Sprint domino effect in Austria. And those were valuable points in play as Bezzecchi is now only six points off Martin. But sometimes, that’s the luck – or lack thereof – of the draw, and Bezzecchi reset on Sunday to grab a valuable haul and another podium. This week Bezzecchi confirmed that his future will be with VR46.

Marco Bezzecchi

“The Barcelona track is very fast and beautiful. The last sector, with the fast corners, is really demanding but at the same time awesome. I didn’t do particularly well here last year, but we come from a positive weekend overall and I’m sure we’ll be able to find the right balance in Friday’s free practice, also considering the high temperatures that await us. The goal is to stay in the slipstream of the Top guys and arrive at Sunday’s race with a consistent pace“.

It’s now a sizeable gap from fourth placed Brad Binder down to fifth place Zarco, as the South African grabbed a double podium on KTM home turf, and vs the rest of the field he was doing far more than hanging on – he left them in the dust except for that one pesky red machine up ahead. Catalunya is a very different track to the Red Bull Ring… but so is Jerez and there, he was two-tenths off.

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Team-mate Jack Miller started just off the front row in Austria and then went backwards on Sunday with no grip, so one-lap speed? Check. Race pace? The mission. We’ve seen it in Jerez though, so watch this space.

One rider who leaves Austria with a newly minted return to the top five is Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) as he impressed on Sunday to dispatch Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), and Marquez himself has impressed of late with that Sprint win at Silverstone only dampened by a mechanical issue thereafter. Marini has won in Moto2 in Catalunya and took sixth in MotoGP last year, and Alex Marquez’s record at the track is excellent: a Moto3 win and two Moto2 wins.

Luca Marini

“Barcelona is a track that I really like and where I have managed to be competitive in the past. The last sector, in particular, is very fast and is well suited to our bike. We arrive here after a very solid race in Austria: we continue to work on those details to fix, with an eye on the temperatures and try to make one last step forward to be able to hit the positions that count in the race“.

Alex Marquez

“Two important races before the world tour begins… One will be my home race, the other the home round for my team. We’re having some good momentum and we need to continue this way. Montmeló is a track I like a lot and it’s the same for Misano. We only need to stay focused, as we’re physically and mentally ready for these two back-to-back races.”

Aprilia also had a fairly solid Austria, all things considered, mostly that it’s supposed to be a tougher venue for their machine. But Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) was fast and put it on the front row, poor starts hampering the ultimate result. It’s something the Noale factory say they’re working on, and if they can solve that, the mountain gets a lot less steep.

For Aleix Espargaro, meanwhile, Austria was pretty solid and now it’s time for a true home round – with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya just up the road from his hometown of Granollers. Last year his speed was enough for second place before that late error of judgement, and he’ll come into this one looking for some revenge.

For the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia contingent, the story remains somewhat familiar: Raul Fernandez wants to move forward, and Miguel Oliveira just wants some luck.

Miguel Oliveira

“After the disappointing result in Austria I’m excited to turn the tide in our favor and bring a good result for the whole team. We have been as effective whenever we had the opportunity to show it and knowing that last year Barcelona was particularly good for Aprilia, I can’t wait to get there and on the bike.”

Raul Fernandez

“I’m very, very happy to do another Spanish race with all my friends. I think it will be an important weekend. In Austria, we had some bad luck due to some issues with the bike. We weren’t able to show our full potential there, because I think our pace was really good. Anyway, I am training very hard and I arrive here in Montmeló with the big goal to show our potential. It’s time to attack and to show that we can fight for a good result!”

Going back to that true hometown vibe, it’s as true for Pol Espargaro as it is for his brother Aleix. The GASGAS name is also racing at home with Pol and GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team-mate Augusto Fernandez, and both will want some glory. Espargaro took that impressive Sprint result in Austria as he starts to get back in the groove, and Fernandez then took a point after a late penalty for his team-mate on Sunday in a mixed bag for the team, but a nice stat for Fernandez. He remains one of only two riders to have scored in every GP race so far this season.

Johann Zarco is fifth in the Championship and has a season littered with podiums so far… but it just didn’t come together in Austria. Can he fight back in Barcelona, with his future now confirmed?

Can Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) move forward and keep his name in the hat? And can Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) really start to challenge as his experience on this new machine increases?

Enea Bastianini

“I arrive at Montmeló without too many expectations. Now, the priority is to be able to fix the bike to be competitive again. The last weekend at the Red Bull Ring allowed us to gather more information that we will definitely use to get back on track on Friday. I still need time, but I know the potential is there. I am calm and ready to face the weekend in Barcelona.”

Zarco’s new home for 2024, meanwhile, we now know is Honda, and they’re another camp looking for steps forward. There was one small milestone last time out though: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) scored points on Sunday for the first time since Malaysia last season. It was in P12, but it’s something ticked off. Next mission: top ten? More? This is home turf for Marquez so he could be pushing risk vs reward that bit more.

Marc Marquez

“The weekend in Barcelona is always a special one, seeing all of the stands full of people and as my home race I love to see all the fans there. No matter what, the objective is to put on a great show for everyone there and give them an enjoyable and memorable weekend. From our side, there’s work to do and we need to keep the calm approach we have had in the past few weekends. In Austria we saw that this way of working let us get through the weekend and gather good data for the project. We go again and begin a busy end to the year.”

Team-mate Joan Mir, meanwhile, wants that finish after a crash out in Austria and also races on home turf. Iker Lecuona too, and he’s back in subbing for Alex Rins at LCR Honda Castrol.

Takaaki Nakagami will want a little less drama than Turn 1 last year, and will want to get back into those points after a tougher couple of weekends.

Joan Mir

“I am looking forward to the weekend in Montmelo, my home GP. Of course I want to produce a good result in front of the local fans but we need to keep on working. In Austria we had an overall good weekend that unfortunately ended in not the best way. I am confident that we can have another weekend where we are fighting to be the top Honda.”

Quartararo ranks 11th in the championship standings and is aiming to up the ante this weekend in Barcelona. The pace he had in Spielberg a fortnight ago gives him high hopes for Montmeló the coming weekend, which is a circuit where he and his Yamaha excel. The Frenchman has had his fair share of success at the Catalan GP. He secured a win there in 2018 in the Moto2 class, followed this up with a second place in the premier class in 2019, and added a MotoGP win in 2020 and 2022. He aims to pay the Montmeló podium another visit this weekend.

Fabio Quartararo

“I rode one of the best races of my life here last year. Barcelona is one of my favourite circuits. I like Montmeló. It‘s usually a good track for me, and I always enjoy riding here. Let‘s see if we can get some good results and bring some smiles to the team and my family.”

Franco Morbidelli is currently 12th in the championship. This weekend he plans on finding a solid base set-up early on, as he is determined to get in strong results in the Practice and qualifying to improve his starting position. The Italian hasn‘t scored a top-3 finish at Catalunya yet in the MotoGP class but came close in 2020, when he finished fourth. Having been able to engage in battles at the previous round in Spielberg, the number-21 rider got a taste for battling with the competition, and he is keen to do it again this weekend.

Franco Morbidelli

“I had fun during the previous race weekend because we were engaging in battles. I want to build onto that and keep the momentum going. I felt good during the Austrian GP Race. I was gaining, but I arrived late to the group in front of me. This weekend we will hopefully improve the results on Friday and on Saturday morning so we can start a bit more from towards the front of the grid.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“We will bring the hardest compound of the season for the front tyre to the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. The asphalt here was redone in 2018, and as a result the grip levels are very low, however the high temperatures and the circuit layout mean that this is still a very demanding track. We have chosen to deal with this severity by supplying symmetrical tyres with three compounds for the front, and two for the rear. The high-speed nature of the circuit led us to select asymmetric rear tyres, with reinforced rubber on the right side. With this allocation we will be able to respond to all situations, as we did in 2022.”

MotoGP Championship Points

Moto2

After more than a year, Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) got back on the top step in Styria… and that was most definitely not in the script for Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo). The stars were supposed to have aligned: taking the Championship lead right before Red Bull and KTM’s home race, breaking the lap record on Friday, taking pole position despite that crash… the stage was set, but it wasn’t to be. A couple of moments – his own at Turn 3 and then another getting extremely close to Vietti’s rear wheel late on – saw the number 37 forced to call off the dogs and settle for second. And guess who won at Catalunya last year? Celestino Vietti.

Acosta, however, still extended that lead as Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) only came home sixth in Spielberg, and that’s starting to become a problem. A few races ago the Italian was banking podiums on tougher days, but he’ll really need to start hitting back soon to stay in Acosta’s postcode in the Championship. Jake Dixon (Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team) also had a gap to the podium in Austria and will want more in Catalunya, and Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) is on an even tougher run. Both Lopez and teammate Fermin Aldeguer, who won in Silverstone, will want a starring role.

Then there’s Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia). The Japanese rider has now taken two podiums from three races after injury plagued his pre-season and start to the year… so can he find that bit more again in Barcelona?

LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP team will not be starting with its full regular line-up, as 18-year-old Australian Senna Agius will be replacing the injured Darryn Binder in Moto2 alongside Lukas Tulovic.

Darryn Binder will have to sit out in order to recover quickly from his vertebrae injury. In his place, Senna Agius will once again take the saddle. The young Australian has already replaced the South African several times this season and will be looking for a top ten finish.

Moto2 Championship Points

Moto3

Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) had been a frontrunner in Moto3 for a good few seasons before he finally took that maiden win in Germany, and only a few races later he’s now added a second Grand Prix victory – in style and on important turf for his major backers. He’s now third overall after another dose of bad luck, this time technical, for Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing).  Öncü will be looking to gain more ground again this weekend.

Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3), however, remains steadfast in his consistency, speed and racecraft. In only his second full season he’s not giving the veterans any margin at all and Barcelona is another track he knows well. It’s also, interestingly, the last of three tracks before we head from India – new turf for all – to Motegi and the start of a run of venues Öncü and Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) have been racing quite a while longer.

Speaking of Sasaki, it’s now six podiums in a row for the Japanese rider, but it’s also a run of chasing the carrot to perfection before just getting pipped at the flag. He seems zen about it, however, confident it’ll come – so can he keep that roll of podiums going until the dice roll his way? Or will that be in Barcelona anyway? His teammate, Collin Veijer, needs a shoutout too after that speed in Austria.

David Alonso (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team), after winning and then coming back down to Earth with a crash out the lead, will also be one to watch, eager to get back to bothering the more veteran runners in that podium fight.

Young Aussie Joel Kelso will be looking to move further up the order in the championship with a strong second half of the season.

Moto3 Championship Points

Catalunya Grand Prix Schedule
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2023 MotoGP Calendar