Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo Finishes in P5 in Dramatic Catalan GP

Following some big incidents at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today – and sighs of relief when all riders involved where declared conscious – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins had to keep their focus. They wrapped up the 12-lap second restart in P7 and P11. As Rins and four other riders were given a 16s penalty post race for a tyre pressure infringement, Quartararo moved up to P5 in the revised rankings while Rins ended in P14.

GRAND PRIX OF CATALUNYA

RACE

Montmeló (Catalonia), 17th May 2026

5th

F. Quartararo
+4.876 / 12 LAPS

14th

Á. Rins
+22.916 / 12 LAPS

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP riders Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins avoided all on-track chaos in the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya MotoGP Race today. Following two red flags, the teammates kept their focus to wrap up the 12-lap dash for points in P7 and P11. Rins, along with four other riders, was later given a 16s-penalty for a tyre pressure infringement. This put Quartararo in P5 and Rins in P14 in the revised rankings.

The original race was red flagged after a big incident involving three riders approaching Turn 10 on lap 12. Race 2 was also red flagged, this time on the first of 13 laps due to an incident involving another three rivals in Turn 1. Race 3 would count 12 laps and Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins started it from P13 and P17 respectively.

Quartararo made an amazing start and pushed to P4 on the opening lap but lost a position to Di Giannantonio crossing the start-finish straight for the first time. Unable to stay with the top 4, the number 20 focused on defensive riding, but Fermín Aldeguer and Ai Ogura still found a way through. El Diablo stood his ground in P8 though. As Pedro Acosta crashed on the last lap, he took the chequered flag in seventh place, 4.876s from the winner. The post-race penalties moved him up to P5 in the revised rankings.

Rins had a good opening lap and climbed to P11. He was part of the rider group fighting for seventh place but lost a position to Brad Binder on lap 6. The Yamaha man pushed on and had a late charge towards Diogo Moreira ahead of him but came just 0.077s short. With Acosta crashing in the last corner, Rins finished P11, 6.916s from first. A 16s-penalty for a tyre pressure infringement put him in 14th place in the revised classification.

Today's results move Quartararo up to 13th place in the championship standings with 37 points. Rins stays in 19th with 9 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are in 9th position in the team classifications with 46 points, and Yamaha is fifth in the constructor rankings with 40 points.

The team will be back in action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya tomorrow for a one-day IRTA Test.

Image gallery

MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"Let me start by saying that we are all relieved that there were no more serious injuries in today's incidents and that our thoughts are with Álex Marquez and Johann Zarco. A double restart is always tense, but our riders showed their professionalism. Though they're not involved, it takes a special kind of mindset to push 100% after seeing such incidents happen. Still, Fabio and Álex were able to keep their focus and finish this difficult weekend with the best results possible. Tomorrow we will be back at this track for the one-day IRTA test, which will allow us to collect some extra data.

"Álex came under investigation for tyre pressure after the race ended. It was due to a human error, a calculation mistake after two restarts. We accept the penalty."

FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"We did 12 laps in the first race, and we left rubber on the track, so that automatically improved our grip for the third race. I started the second race with a new soft tyre, but I had to reuse it for the restart because I had no more new ones left. I could go faster in race 3 than in race 1 but was blocked behind Marco [Bezzecchi]. It was difficult today, but especially the second race. I try to avoid looking at the tv screens in these situations, but when you cross Turn 10 and see Álex [Marquez] on the ground like that, you don't feel like restarting the race. I had goosebumps: the tyre and bike flying… That's not easy, but it's part of our job."

ÁLEX RINS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"When these kinds of things happen, for me, the race becomes secondary. When I saw Álex [Marquez] on the floor, my heart broke. I was really affected. I was trying to breathe a lot in the box, because it's not nice to see a mate on the floor. In the end, we're all humans, so it was really tough.

"We struggled a lot here this weekend. The pace was not bad today, it was quite acceptable, but we're not where we want to be."