Marc Marquez wins Sprint as Alex crashes after pole at Catalan GP

Alex Marquez claimed pole with a new lap record at the Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona on Saturday, but the highlight of the day belonged to his older brother Marc Marquez, who inherited victory in the afternoon Sprint after Alex crashed from the lead. The qualifying and sprint action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya set the stage for a tense Grand Prix on Sunday, with Alex on pole, Fabio Quartararo second and Marc third on the grid.

Alex Marquez set a blistering 1m37.536 in Q2 to take his first pole of the 2025 season for BK8 Gresini Racing on the Ducati GP24, beating Quartararo’s Monster Energy Yamaha and Marc’s factory Ducati, according to official timing. The pole lap erased a lap record set earlier in the weekend during FP2, when Brad Binder posted a 1m38.141 for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Binder and Pedro Acosta had each topped practice running at various points, illustrating a competitive weekend for KTM in Barcelona.

Qualifying was eventful. Pedro Acosta briefly posted a rapid time that would have challenged for pole but had the lap deleted for exceeding track limits, leaving him to start fifth. Francesco Bagnaia struggled across the day and will begin Sunday’s...