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1h ago

Alex Marquez Takes Barcelona Pole as Bagnaia Slumps to 21st After Ducati Pressure

Ducati’s public push for Francesco Bagnaia to change course underscores how setup troubles and rival gains are reshaping expectations in Barcelona.

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Overview

  • Alex Marquez secured pole for both the sprint and Grand Prix, qualifying ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez after a tight Q2 fight.
  • Francesco Bagnaia failed to advance from Q1 for the second straight event and will start 21st, as Ducati manager Davide Tardozzi urged him to adapt and Bagnaia cited persistent braking-in-lean front-end feel issues.
  • Joan Mir topped Saturday morning’s FP2 with a 1:39.119, marking his first session lead since 2022 and signaling unexpected Honda speed.
  • KTM led Friday with Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta, but in qualifying Acosta took P5 and Binder managed P11 after an electronic problem forced him onto his second bike.
  • Pace remains compressed with FP2’s top 10 covered by 0.322 seconds; the sprint starts at 15:00 MEZ, airing on Sky in Germany and on ServusTV and SRF2 in Austria and Switzerland.