MotoGP Catalunya Prediction and Tips

The 2026 MotoGP season is proving to be very different to the one that was expected at the outset but fans are loving the unpredictability and there is just one point between Aprilia pair Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin at the top of the standings after five races.

The Italian won the first three rounds of the MotoGP season but 2024 world champion Martin secured his first victory since that campaign at Le Mans on Sunday and neither rider has finished lower than fourth this season.

World champion Marc Marquez will be missing from the grid after undergoing surgery to his foot and shoulder after a heavy crash in the sprint race in France and he is only seventh in the standings with the Aprilia battle now taking centre stage.

MotoGP Catalunya Tips Summary

Best Bet - Marco Bezzecchi to win @ 2/1
Alternative Bet - Francesco Bagnaia to win @ 5/1
Alternative Bet - Fabio Quartararo each-way @ 40/1

MotoGP Catalunya Prediction

Best Bet: Marco Bezzecchi to win @ 2/1

Marco Bezzecchi remains the world championship leader but the strong weekend of his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin in Le Mans will certainly have caught his attention.

Martin became the first rider this year to win both the sprint and the grand prix in the same weekend, with Bezzecchi finishing third in the shorter race and a close second in the main event.

The Italian has not finished outside the top two on a Sunday yet this season, though, and he looks a solid option for the race win in Barcelona as he targets a fourth success of the campaign.

Neither rider has a particularly strong record at the circuit, and while Martin was on the podium in Catalunya in 2022, 2023 and 2024, he had a tough weekend there last season, qualifying only 18th, crashing out of the sprint and finishing 10th in the race.

Bezzecchi looks set to face a strong challenge from his team-mate for the rest of the season but he could regain the upper hand in their battle this weekend.

Alternative Bet: Francesco Bagnaia each-way @ 5/1

With Marc Marquez on the sidelines again and no replacement taking over his bike, the Ducati factory team's hopes in Barcelona will rest solely on the shoulders of Francesco Bagnaia and he could rise to the challenge.

Bagnaia has underachieved so far this season, failing to finish three of the last four grands prix, but he has been runner-up in three successive sprint races, demonstrating that the pace to compete at the front remains when he can put it together.

The 2022 and 2023 world champion won this race in 2024 and managed to climb to seventh place in the race last year after qualifying only 21st when he was really struggling with his bike's set-up.

Although the race results haven't yet shown it, he is more comfortable this season and should be seen in a better light this weekend.

Alternative Bet: Fabio Quartararo each-way @ 40/1

Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo looked a reborn rider in France last weekend, securing his best finish of the season in sixth place having been as high as second in the early stages.

He had also been fifth in the sprint, and he could continue his progress in Barcelona.

It was clearly more than just appearing in front of his home fans that spurred on the Frenchman and now he is happier with his bike's set-up than has been the case for a long time, he has a chance to challenge for a return to the podium.

The 2021 world champion won at this circuit in his Moto2 days, was successful in Barcelona in 2020 and 2022 and had one of his better weekends of last season at the track too, finishing runner-up in the sprint and fifth in the grand prix.

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Key Race Stats

• Marco Bezzecchi has won three of the first five races this season

• Five different riders have won this race in the last five years

• Alex Marquez won last year's race at this track from pole position

• Four different manufacturers have won the last five races in Barcelona

• Fabio Di Giannantonio is the only Ducati rider in the top six of the standings

• Fabio Quartararo (2020 and 2022) is the only rider in this year's field with multiple wins at the circuit

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.