Backing up his pace from across the weekend, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) shrugged off Sunday’s disappointment to top the Barcelona Test on Monday. ‘The Shark’ pipped Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) with just 0.117 covering the top three and a second covering the top 13. The test ended prematurely as a huge downpour after between sessions saw nobody go out after lunch. All the fast times were set in the morning and it was officially declared done just over an hour ahead of schedule. There was a crash for Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) in the morning and despite a trip to hospital, no fractures were found.
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING AND TECH 3
Pole on Saturday and close to a Sprint win, a technical problem AND a last corner fall on the last lap on Sunday through no fault of his own, Acosta had quite the Catalan GP. Nothing could stop ‘The Shark’ in Monday’s test though with P1 bagged on his final flying lap of the first session after a couple of slower opening runs and a small tech issue. Teammate Brad Binder was 12th with much of the items being trialled already making previous appearances.
Bastianini suffered a first point-less weekend of 2026 but The Beast bounced back on Monday with P3 in testing. After returning to racing action with 11th place in Sunday’s Grand Prix, Maverick Vinales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was fast and towards the pointy end of the time sheets. He hailed improvements made to the front end of his RC16, reflected in a fourth-place finish on Monday. No shoulder issues to worry about, the 12 expects to see KTM’s newest parts in the next GPs. Three KTMs in the top four, encouraging ahead of Round 7.
MONSTER ENERGY AND PRIMA PRAMAC YAMAHA MOTOGP
Second on the timing sheets and just 0.064s away from top spot, Quartararo was impressed with the grip he found out on the track in Barcelona but put this down to the circuit being rubbered in rather than any specific solution found within the box. Still, P2 and a couple of tenths away from his qualifying time is a positive sign for the 2021 World Champion, who had some new front wings to dial in. Teammate Rins was 13th and the last of the riders within one second of Acosta’s time.
In the other Yamaha camp, Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was 16th and teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu in 19th. Miller also donned Yamaha’s new front wings and got down to business with them, whilst ‘El Turco’ set 45 laps, the most of anyone in the field. Valuable data for the triple WorldSBK Champion, who had a tougher weekend.
APRILIA RACING, TRACKHOUSE MOTOGP TEAM
Following a dramatic Sunday for both riders, Trackhouse MotoGP Team’s Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura were back in action on Monday and set 74 laps between them. Their fastest laps came in their final runs and concluded the action in fifth and sixth respectively, finishing as top Aprilias. It was mainly setup work for Justin Marks’ team.
It was an early finish for Martin after the 2024 World Champion fell at Turn 7 and whilst he did get up to his feet straight away, he was taken to the medical centre and then hospital for full assessments. No breaks or fractures were found on the Martinator but rest will be needed ahead of Mugello. Prior to the fall, aero packages were on the agenda for the #89, who was 17th after just 15 laps. Championship-leading teammate Marco Bezzecchi finished P11 overall and after a tricky weekend, will look forward to his home Grand Prix at Mugello next time out.
DUCATI LENOVO TEAM, PERTAMINA ENDURO VR46 RACING TEAM AND BK8 GRESINI RACING MOTOGP
Three Ducati teams in action and all with one rider each; Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) was out injured before the weekend anyway, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing Team) continues to recover from Sunday’s crash and whilst he eventually won, an injury from his crash during the first red flag saw Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) sit out Monday’s test.
Top Ducati honours went to Sunday’s runner-up Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), just over three tenths off Acosta’s time for P1 whilst the next Ducati was Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), just one place and 0.045s behind the #54. The only rider doing any development work was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) who continued to test the new swingarm seen during the weekend, finishing in P10.
HONDA HRC CASTROL AND PRO HONDA LCR
Top Honda honours went the way of Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR), who was in ninth place, the same as where he finished in Sunday’s Catalan GP. The Brazilian focused on setup throughout the day. In Honda HRC Castrol colours, Luca Marini just edged out teammate Joan Mir for 14th place overall by 0.014s. The Italian had a new side fairing to work with whilst 2020 World Champion Mir had a new smaller exhaust and modified swingarm. A depleted line-up on Monday for Honda, with Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) out with injury after Sunday’s scary Turn 1 fall.
That’s all! and then it’s a week at home before we’re off to the Tuscan hills; the Brembo Grand Prix of Italy awaits at Mugello!
