LCR BOSS PROVIDES JOHANN ZARCO UPDATE AFTER CATALONIA TURN 1 INCIDENT

LCR MotoGP boss gives Johann Zarco update after scary Turn 1 crash

Johann Zarco crashes at the 2026 Catalan MotoGP
© Gold and Goose

LCR MotoGP team boss, Lucio Cecchinello, says Johann Zarco has pain “in the femur area” after a scary incident during Sunday’s Catalan Grand Prix.

The race was red-flagged on lap 12 of 24 for a terrifying collision involving Pedro Acosta, whose KTM encountered an issue, and Gresini’s Alex Marquez on the back straight between Turns 9 and 10.

Alex Marquez was taken to hospital for checks, while the race was restarted again.

On this restart, Johann Zarco collided with Luca Marini and Pecco Bagnaia at Turn 1 at the start, and got tangled up with one of the bikes.

A red flag was flow again while Zarco received medical attention, with the Frenchman taken to hospital for further checks.

Replays of the second Red Flag crash 🚩

All riders conscious 🙌#MotoGP | #CatalanGP | Live on TNT Sports and HBO Max pic.twitter.com/1KQt78sk8j

— TNT Sports Bikes (@bikesontnt) May 17, 2026

2026 Catalan MotoGP incident
© Gold and Goose

Speaking to TNT Sport, Cecchinello offered an update on Zarco’s condition.

“Well, at the moment, he’s been taken to the local hospital,” he said.

“They will perform an MRI and scan to check exactly what he has.

“He has pain in the left leg. He has pain around the knee.

“But, fortunately, he has no concussion, he has no injuries in the upper part of the body, in the feet, in the ankle.

“Looks like he has pain, just in the femur area. I really hope there will be no bad news coming.”

Zarco had been having a strong weekend up to that point, qualifying fifth and finishing there in the sprint.

Prior to the first red flag, Zarco was inside the top six.

“Look, I was commenting that it was a perfect weekend for us: fifth in Friday practice, fifth in qualifying, fifth in the sprint, sixth with 2.8s after half a race,” Cecchinello added.

“It was really, really a pity that our weekend ended like this.”

Zarco suffered bruising on his foot from hitting debris when Marquez and Acosta collided, but was cleared to restart.

The FIM stewards' document notes that Zarco is due to face a hearing on the incident, but will only do so once he is available. 

- Lewis Duncan

ALEX MARQUEZ HUGE CRASH AT CATALONIA GRAND PRIX | MOTOGP

 

ALEX MARQUEZ INJURIES |

 

Alex has suffered a small C7 vertebrae fracture along with a broken right collarbone. The injury will be surgically treated using a plate to stabilize the shoulder area.

Alex is scheduled to have surgery today at the General Hospital of Catalonia.

Other medical evaluations will be done next week to monitor the progress of recovery.

A major blow after such a dramatic weekend...

Wishing Alex a speedy recovery and a stronger comeback.

#ForcaAlexMarquez 

FINAL MOTLGP STANDINGS

 

SPRINT WINNER | ÁLEX MARQUEZ | VALENCIA MOTOGP

 

ALEX MARQUEZ WINS GRAND PRIX OF MALAYSIA | MOTOGP

The Marquez brothers have now won 70% of the #MotoGP races in 2025 🔥🏆

#MalaysianGP #LiquiMoly

MOTOGP STANDINGS

 

MARC MARQUEZ FASTEST IN FIRST MOTOGP AUSTRIA PRACTICE

Marquez topped the first session in Austria - Credit: Ducati Media House

Marc Marquez continued his dominant form to once again top the timesheets in the first MotoGP practice at Austria.

The Spaniard produced a quick effort of 1.29.376s on the factory Ducati to start the weekend.

His closest challenger was his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, who finished 0.3s adrift of the six-time MotoGP champion.

Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi continued his pre-break purple patch to finish the session in third place, an impressive start to the weekend given the nature of the stop-go Spielberg track.

Alex Marquez and Gresini secured fourth place, finishing quicker than VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli.

Joan Mir posted an impressive lap to secure sixth place for Honda, followed closely by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin.

KTM rider Pedro Acosta slotted himself in ninth place, as Tech3 rider Enea Bastianini lapped 0.001s behind to round off the top 10.

Luca Marini and Alex RIns secured 11th and 12th for Honda and Yamaha, respectively, finishing faster than GP25 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Brad Binder posted a lap to see him 14th, lapping quicker than Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer and LCR rider Johann Zarco.

Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura secured 17th and 19th for Trackhouse Racing, with Pramac Yamaha rider Jack Miller lapping between the satellite Aprilia duo.

Maverick Vinales finished 20th on his rushed MotoGP return, finishing ahead of the second Pramac rider of Miguel Oliveira.

RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP | LIQUI MOLY GRAND PRIX OF GERMANY 2025

 

MARC MARQUEZ IS ON A ROLL | MOTOGP STANDINGS

 

ARAGON MOTOGP, QUALIFYING RESULTS: MARC MARQUEZ SEES OFF THREATS FOR FOURTH POLE

Marc Marquez maintained his grip on proceedings ahead of the Aragon MotoGP after turning it on when it mattered to claim pole position on home soil at Motorland Aragon.

The Spaniard recovered from a botched lap towards the end of the session to respond emphatically to threats from both Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli with a 1m 45.704secs.

Finding his two tenth margin over his brother almost entirely in the final sector, it is Marquez’s fourth pole position of the season, albeit his first since Qatar.

Having dominated each practice session coming into qualifying, one might have assumed Marquez would steamroll his way to the top spot.

However, he pushed closely for much of Q2 by his brother Alex, the younger of the siblings bouncing back with interest having crashed at Turn 7 in the preceding FP2 session.

With Morbidelli also getting in the mix, the trio found themselves separated by just 0.022secs with just a few seconds remaining on the clock.

Nevertheless, Marquez - having been forced to abandon the first lap of his final run following a mistake - got his head down to find another two tenths for pole.

Another Marquez 1-2 in front of their adoring home fans, they will be joined on the front row by Morbidelli, who scored his first top three qualifying result of the season.

Pecco Bagnaia made it a Ducati 1-2-3-4 but will be humbled by the vast 0.6s gap to team-mate Marquez out front.

Having caused a stir with its upturn in form on Friday, KTM enjoyed its best qualifying performance of the season as a manufacturer with Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder and Maverick Vinales sealing fifth, sixth and eighth on the grid. The trio were split by Fermin Aldeguer in seventh place on the second of the Gresini bikes.

While his hopes of a fourth straight pole position always seemed unlikely by virtue of him having to come through Q1, Fabio Quartararo at least looked more competitive on Saturday morning as he rounded out row three in ninth.

Fabio di Giannantonio joined Quartararo in progressing from Q1 en route to tenth, while Honda’s hopes of building on his fine Friday form fell flat as Joan Mir - who also crashed in FP2 - and Johann Zarco settled for 11th and 12th respectively.

Beyond the front four rows, Marco Bezzecchi went from hero to zero as the British MotoGP race winner scuppered his hopes with a crash early on in Q1.

The Italian found himself skating through the gravel at Turn 3 on his first flying lap, forcing him to sprint back to the pit-lane for a swap to his spare Aprilia.

However, upon returning to the track, Bezzecchi was soon touring with a suspected technical issue and subsequently returned to the pits. While he was sent back out a couple of minutes later in an effort to salvage a better grid position, he could only manage a time good enough for 20th on the grid.

With the factory Aprilias towards the back, it was up to Raul Fernandez to fly the flag for the Noale marque on the sole Trackhouse Racing machine, the Spaniard starting 13th, ahead of Jack Miller and Alex Rins.

- Ollie Barstow

ALEX MARQUEZ | GP WINNER | CIRCUITO DE JEREZ

 

MARC MARQUEZ IDENTIFIES SURPRISE NAME AS HIS MAIN MOTOGP TITLE OPPONENT

Marc Marquez identified a surprise name he believes is his main MotoGP title opponent for the 2025 season.

Marquez completed back-to-back grand slams in Argentina, claiming pole before winning the Sprint and Grand Prix.

The Spaniard extended his lead at the top of the championship, equalling Angel Nieto’s record of 90 total wins.

He defeated his younger brother Alex Marquez by less than a second in the Sprint, before winning the race by 1.3s despite following him for most of the race after making an unforced error.

The Marquez brothers once again featured on the top two steps of the podium, before Marc stated post-race that he believes his younger brother is his main opponent for the championship.

“But Alex today I’m very impressed about his riding style. He was super smooth,” said Marquez to Crash.net.

“And I know when he is super convinced he is able to win a world championship, like he did in Moto3, in Moto2.

“So, at the end he is the main opponent for the championship.”

Marc Marquez took a ‘lot of risks’ to win the race

Despite leading for the first three laps Marquez ran wide at Turn 1 on Lap 4, which allowed his brother to take the lead.

The older brother prevailed in the end following an overtake on Lap 21, before clearing off into the distance to establish a 1.3s advantage.

The factory Ducati rider continued to heap praise on his brother’s performance, stating he rode “super smooth.”

The Spaniard admitted that to win the race he had to take more risks, which explained the incidents in which he experienced a few wobbles aboard his Desmosedici.

“Today I’m impressed about my brother, about Alex,” he added.

“In one part of the race I was thinking to finish second because he was riding super smooth, super good, always keeping the corner speed.

“I mean his tyre was not smoking. I said ‘ok, this guy today has another level’.

“Then in the end I survived. I took a risk, as you saw, I took a lot of risks – maybe too much in some points of the race.”

- Henry Cheal

DUCATI DOMINATES THAI MOTIGP WITH MARC MARQUEZ LEADING A PODIUM SWEEP

Apr 12, 2024; Austin, TX, USA; Enea Bastianini (23) of Italy and Ducati Lenovo Team during practice for the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas at Circuit of The Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Ducati asserted its dominance at the 2025 Thai MotoGP with a commanding performance led by Marc Marquez, who completed a flawless weekend by securing pole position, the sprint race victory, and his first grand prix win as a factory Ducati rider. His brother Alex Marquez and reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia completed an all-Ducati podium in the same order, mirroring Saturday’s sprint results.

Marc led the race until Lap 7, when he was overtaken by Alex on Gresini's GP24 machine. However, Marc regained the lead on Lap 23 and created a considerable gap of 1.732 seconds. Although it initially seemed like a mechanical issue had slowed Marc, he quickly regained pace, settling in behind his brother, which appeared to be a strategic move to manage tire pressures. As the race neared its conclusion, Alex struggled with rear grip on the GP24, offering Marc the perfect opportunity to secure victory.

Alex kicked off his 2025 season on a high note with back-to-back runner-up finishes for Gresini at Buriram, while Bagnaia closed the gap mid-race but ultimately settled for third, finishing 0.666s behind. Franco Morbidelli secured fourth for VR46 Ducati, falling three seconds behind the podium battle after briefly challenging Bagnaia for third.

Trackhouse Racing rookie Ai Ogura finished fifth ahead of factory Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who trailed by over seven seconds in sixth. Johann Zarco was on the top Honda in seventh, followed by KTM’s Brad Binder, Tech3’s Enea Bastianini, and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio completing the top ten at the Thai MotoGP.

Marc has been regarded as the favorite for the 2025 season after earning his factory Ducati promotion following a strong campaign with Gresini last year. Paired with Bagnaia, the two multi-time world champions have been identified by TNT Sports MotoGP presenter Neil Hodgson as key contenders set to push each other in the fight for the title. Motorsports On SI reported:

“I think they’re both so talented.

“Obviously Marc’s [Marquez] got more world titles, but I feel like Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] is still improving, still learning, and he’s an absolute machine.

“You write Pecco Bagnaia off at your peril, don’t you? Quite often on a race weekend, he’ll have a really average Friday, even an average Saturday, and he’ll bounce back and win the Grand Prix on Sunday.

“So, I can see it going on and on.

“I think both riders will push each other extremely hard, obviously they share the data so they can copy each other’s homework. So, I think they’ll both push each other.

“I think we’re going to have a season very similar to last year, where you’ve got two riders pushing each other.

“There’ll be lots of mistakes as well, I think there’ll be crashes, I think there’ll be collisions between them, I do, I really do, which is probably not a big statement because we’ve seen it in the past.”

- Saajan Jogia

FRANCESCO BAGNAIA HAILS MALAYSIAN MOTOGP POLE AFTER 'INCREDIBLE' JORGE MARTIN BATTLE

“It’s incredible what we did today”

Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, qualifying, 2024 Malaysian MotoGP

MotoGP title rivals Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin spectacularly slugged it out for pole position at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Both smashed the Sepang lap record as they surged almost one second clear of the field.

Martin landed what looked like a knockout blow with a new official lap record on his first run, pitting with a half-second advantage over Bagnaia.

But with the pressure on, practice leader Bagnaia responded magnificently on his final run, beating Martin's record time by 0.216s!

Delight in the factory Ducati pits was matched by shock in the Pramac garage, but Martin rolled up his sleeves and was equal to Bagnaia through the opening sectors…

However, the title leader was forced to lift his GP24 when the front slid away at Turn 14, ending an epic pole contest.

“It’s incredible what we did today because already the lap time of Jorge was incredible,” said Bagnaia, before underlining the psychological importance of defeating Martin in qualifying.

“Being able to drop this lap time was also super important for the mental side because I know how difficult it is when you are doing your maximum and your opponent is faster.

“So it was very important and I’m very proud of my team because we did a very good again. Super happy.”

Martin, who starts this afternoon’s Sprint race 17 points ahead of Bagnaia, admitted: 

“For sure I thought [my first lap] was enough, but Pecco was incredible today.

“It is what it is. I tried my best. I think the first row was the target so I’m happy.

“The race will be tough, both of us have a really good pace so it will be important to understand where to be stronger.”

Martin can wrap up the title one round early if he holds a 38-point lead on Sunday evening.

A maximum of 12 points are available in the Sprint and 25 in the Grand Prix this weekend.

Meanwhile, Alex Marquez was a commendable, if distant, third on the grid.

“I closed my eyes and pushed in every corner at the limit!” he smiled. “I tried my best and I love this place. We made a really good lap, also in FP2 we were not bad for race pace.”

The Gresini rider paid tribute to the ‘magnificent’ performance of the duo ahead as he ruled out repeating last year’s Sprint victory.

“Looking forward to the race but we are not like last year, we don’t have the chance to win because these two are super magnificent," Marquez said.

“When you are fighting for the title you have like another step more [mentally]. So congrats to Pecco and Martin.

“But we are happy to be here after some difficult races.”

Martin’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli, Alex’s team-mate Marc Marquez and Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini (who fell) will form row two of the grid.

KTM's Jack Miller was the top non-Ducati rider in seventh followed by the Yamahas of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, who are enjoying their most competitive team performance of the season.

Brad Binder (KTM), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) completed the Qualifying 2 riders.

Zarco turned heads by leaping to the top of Qualifying 1 on his final lap, pushing Pedro Acosta out of Qualifying 2 in the process.

Meanwhile, Andrea Iannone enjoyed the best session of his MotoGP comeback with 17th on the grid.

"It wasn't an easy qualifying, but I'm happy," Iannone said. "On a physical level, with the heat, the humidity and considering how these bikes are physical in braking, it's complicated but I’m having fun. 

"It's a shame we had so little time, because we have the potential to be competitive, we're only 0.8 from the first GP23. 

"It will be my first time in the Sprint, I will have to understand how to manage myself, I don't know exactly what to expect, especially in the slipstream with all these wings."

- Peter McLaren

ALEX MARQUEZ | #TISSOTSPRINT WINNER | SEPANG

 

ALEX MARQUEZ ON MARC MARQUEZ | MOTOGP 2023

 

MOTO GP MUGELLO: MATTIA PASINI WINS A GP SINCE 2009

Mattia Pasini has won a MotoGP race since winning in 2009...