Portuguese Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) abandoned the sprint race of the MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalonia this Saturday due to a fall without any physical consequences for the rider, three laps from the finish.
This sixth race of the season was won by Spaniard Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), who started from pole position, 0.892 seconds ahead of compatriot Marc Marquez (Ducati), while his compatriot Pedro Acosta (GasGas) took third place with a time of 1.169.
Oliveira started from 15th place in the table, but regained positions until he reached seventh place, which he was occupying when he crashed.
Along the way was Spaniard Raul Fernandez (Aprilia), his Trackhouse teammate, who crashed at Turn 5 of the Catalan circuit.
South African Brad Binder (KTM) also crashed there when he was leading by 0.8 seconds, and Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) crashed on the last lap of the race when he was also leading alone. .
Thus, Aleix Espargaro inherited the advantage he already had at the start of the race, repeating the victory achieved in 2023.
Thanks to these results, Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati), who took fourth place, maintains the championship lead, now 37 points ahead of Marc Marquez, who has moved up to second place.
Martin has 135 points and Marquez 98. Miguel Oliveira maintains 14th place with 23 points.
The main race of the weekend will take place on Sunday.