ALEX MÁRQUEZ EDGES ACOSTA IN PHOTO FINISH IN MOTOGP SPRINT
The Tissot Sprint at Barcelona produced one of the closest finishes in MotoGP history, with Alex Márquez defeating Pedro Acosta by just 0.041 seconds after a fierce final-lap battle. Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the podium, finishing only 0.4 seconds behind the winner in a tightly packed top three.
At the start, Acosta held the holeshot after a strong launch, narrowly beating Alex Márquez into Turn 1. Behind them, chaos unfolded immediately when Brad Binder made contact in a chain reaction involving Fabio Di Giannantonio and Joan Mir, which ended both Binder and Mir’s Sprint. The stewards later judged it a racing incident.
Johann Zarco briefly moved into second place early on, showing strong pace in the opening laps, while Raúl Fernández also impressed with aggressive moves through the field. However, the race quickly became a four-rider fight at the front.
Jorge Martín suffered another setback when he crashed at Turn 10 on lap three while running inside the top five. It marked another difficult moment in a weekend already full of incidents for him.
As the Sprint settled, Alex Márquez made his move on Acosta at Turn 1 to take the lead. Fernández briefly climbed into second place before Acosta responded and fought back into contention. With five laps remaining, the top four were separated by only a few tenths, keeping the outcome completely open.
In the closing laps, Di Giannantonio joined the fight for the podium by passing Fernández, while Acosta steadily closed the gap to Márquez. On the final lap, the margin dropped to just two tenths, but Márquez held firm under intense pressure. Acosta stayed close all the way to the final corner, but could not find a way through.
At the line, Márquez secured victory by the smallest of margins, with Acosta second and Di Giannantonio third, all within half a second of each other. Fernández faded slightly late in the race but still finished fourth after a strong performance.
Zarco continued his consistent weekend with fifth place, while Francesco Bagnaian recovered well from his difficult qualifying to finish sixth after starting 13th. Franco Morbidelli took seventh, followed by Ai Ogura, who impressed with a strong comeback from 18th on the grid.
Marco Bezzecchi had a difficult Sprint but still managed to extend his championship lead by a single point over Martín heading into Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The Barcelona Sprint ended with one of the tightest finishes ever seen, setting the stage for a highly anticipated main race.
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