The Ducati Lenovo Team can celebrate a one-two finish in a dramatic and at times unpredictable fourth Sprint of the season at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. Under heavy rain, Marc Márquez edged Francesco Bagnaia to take victory.

Starting from pole position, Márquez led the first half of the race before being caught first by his brother Alex and then by Fabio Di Giannantonio. As the rain intensified, Marc crashed at the final corner at the end of lap eight. He quickly jumped back on his Desmosedici GP and returned to the pits to switch bikes. After rejoining the race, the reigning World Champion made his way back to the front, eventually reclaiming the lead ahead of his teammate. Bagnaia, after a complicated first phase of the race, was among the first riders to return to the pits for a bike swap. This decision allowed him to gain sixteen positions in around one lap to eventually finish second.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow at 10:40 local time (GMT +2) for the warm-up session, followed by the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Grand Prix of Spain, which will be contested over a 25-lap distance starting at 14:00.

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“I can say, in a way, that I crashed at the right place and at the right time! Obviously, nobody ever wants to crash and it was my mistake to stay out on track, but it's never easy to decide whether to pit or stay out. It wasn't the right choice, but luckily I crashed at the last corner: I waited in the gravel trap until all the riders had passed, and then I returned to the pits for the bike swap. When I rejoined the track I realised I was third, and then I worked my way up to first position. We still have work to do ahead of the race in order to make a step forward also in dry conditions.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“I didn't get a good start but still tried to follow the riders ahead of me. Then some light rain started and I found myself unable to push, as I was struggling with grip. At some point I hoped that the rain would intensify and kept myself ready for this. I maybe should have pitted one lap earlier to get the tyre up to temperature, but it still went well anyway. I tried to stay with Marc after he overtook me, but when I saw he had another level of confidence in the rain, I chose to bring second place home. I noticed a few things in this Sprint that we can work on ahead of tomorrow's race.”

************MotoGP gathered at the busy Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto for the 40th year in a row and for the first European date on the 2026 schedule. Friday practice took place in overcast, breezy and warm weather but conditions deteriorated for Saturday’s morning qualification.

Pedro Acosta moved through Q1 on Saturday after topping wet Free Practice 2. The Spaniard then used his speed on the damp asphalt to record the 6th best lap in Q2 and earn a view from the second row of the grid. A spell of sunshine dried the track but the clouds threatened more rain. Acosta started the 12-lap Sprint by lunging into the top six but the heavens opened. Pedro continued briefly on slicks and then came into swap bikes (under the Flag-to-Flag rules) but tumbled as the showers hardened. He remounted for P12.


Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Brad Binder tried to force his way into Q2 on Friday and worked to refine his set-up for the faster corners of the Jerez layout. Brad ended the Q1 session with 13th on the grid. Binder attacked hard in the Sprint and sliced through to P8, fighting with his fellow KTM riders. He then persisted as long as possible in the rain before making his bike change at a timely moment that allowed him to be in the running for the podium. Brad was also a victim of the worsening weather. He briefly hit the ground but recovered to guide the #33 machine to P4 for his highest classification of the year to-date.

Enea Bastianini was the lead KTM RC16 rider on Friday by achieving direct Q2 entry in the dry. The Italian was 8th fastest in quali for his best grid slot of the season so far. Enea showed his potential by pushing for a mid-top ten position in the Sprint and only a late slide derailed his hopes. He was able to get going again for 11th. Teammate Maverick Viñales did not travel to Jerez. He continues to recover from corrective surgery on his left shoulder but is optimistic of rejoining MotoGP for round six in France in two weeks.

The 25-lap Grand Prix begins at 14.00 CET time on Sunday with a dry forecast!

Brad Binder, 13th in qualification, 4th in the Sprint: “Happy and heartbroken at the same time. I felt like I timed my pit-entry well but from one lap to the next there was so much water. When I braked in the same place I was like: ‘Oh s**t’. Lost the front, slid off, picked up and carried on. To bail and still finish 4th is pretty good, so happy about that. A bit unfortunate because I would have loved to have won again. Another day.”

Enea Bastianini, 8th in qualification, 11th in the Sprint: “In general, a so-so day. I crashed in the qualifying and damaged the bike but I was still able to be competitive for the Sprint. It was raining a lot in the first sector. Anyway, my lap-times were good and I was on target and that makes me hopeful for tomorrow…if it is dry!”

Pedro Acosta, 6th in qualification, 12th in the Sprint: “I think everyone was playing the same ‘game’ but I don’t think we expected it to rain so hard and it was tricky to know when to change the bike. Anyway, it looks like we found something on the set-up today because we were making a nice race in the dry. Tomorrow we’ll try to make another step.”

Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Today was challenging because of the weather conditions but it was the same for everyone. Generally, we’re quite happy because all three riders finished the race and there was a top four result for Brad. It’s enough to be positive, and also to look optimistically to tomorrow where it should be dry. Friday was the base for the settings and the development and we’re hoping for a good showing here for the GP distance at Jerez.”

**********>>Quartararo & Rins Take P7 and P10 in First Ever Flag-To-Flag Sprint
An overcast Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto set the scene for the Grand Prix of Spain Saturday. With rain hammering down midway through the race, it became the first ever flag-to-flag Sprint. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo rode from P17 on the grid to P7 at the chequered flag. Álex Rins turned a P21 start into a P10 result.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Today Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins showed experience and clever riding in a spectacular flag-to-flag Grand Prix of Spain MotoGP Sprint. They wrapped it up in P7 and P10 respectively.

Quartararo launched from P17 and gradually moved up the order. He had climbed as high as 13th place, when the first drops started to fall. El Diablo came into the pits on lap 9 to switch to his wet bike and then settled in P8. Gaining another position in the final stages as the rain intensified, he finished in seventh place, 13.525s from first.

Rins commenced the Sprint from P21 and spent the majority of the 12-lap dash battling with the Prima Pramac Yamaha Moto2 teammates. He was riding in P21 when sudden rain turned his fortunes around. Coming in on lap 8, he moved up the rankings and, after some battles in the final laps, salvaged a P10 finish, 15.821s from the winner.

Today‘s Sprint results put Quartaro in 16th place in the championship standings with 9 points. Rins is in 18th with 3 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are in 10th position in the team classifications with 12 points, and Yamaha is fifth in the contructor rankings with 12 points.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action on Sunday for Warm Up, held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), and the 25-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
"Today the weather conditions played a big role in the on-track action and the results. The riders already did some laps in damp conditions this morning in FP2, but it was nothing compared to the rain the riders faced midway through the Sprint. It was the first flag-to-flag of the season. When this happens, the riders have to assess the situation and decide for themselves what is the best time to come in. Both Fabio and Álex handled it well, though Fabio could have come in one lap earlier. Considering our grid positions, we can take comfort from the fact that we made the most of this afternoon's sudden opportunity. However, with the weather forecast predicting dry weather tomorrow, we have to now switch gears again and prepare for a very different sort of race on Sunday."

FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
"I would say that for me this flag-to-flag was positive. Unfortunately, I came in one lap too late, but we still took three points. I didn't expect to be fast in the wet today as this this was one of the first times riding in these conditions with this bike. But tomorrow will be a different story if it's dry. We will have to work hard and find something."

ÁLEX RINS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
"More than 'survival' this was a race where you really had to use your head. It was quite easy to make a mistake. I'm happy about how I managed the Sprint: I entered the pits at the perfect time, and I made the flag-to-flag in a good way. I had hoped for more than P10 because of this. Overall, we are struggling, in the wet and the dry. But I will take away from today that I can be happy with how I handled the race and adapted to the situation, and let's see what tomorrow brings us."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>FERMIN ALDEGUER #54
“It was important to keep putting in laps and working. In the race, at the start of a season where honestly we’re not fighting for anything yet, between going back to the pits and racing for fourth or fifth place, or going for the win, I chose to go for it. It didn’t work out, but with four laps to go, anything could have happened. In the first part of the race I felt very good physically, I was able to battle with the KTMs, and these are definitely important sensations that I’ll carry with me starting tomorrow.”

ALEX MARQUEZ #73
“I felt good during the race. Maybe taking the lead wasn’t the best choice, but even this morning in the wet I felt good. I could have come in a lap earlier, but part of the track was still very dry, and on the lap when I was about to come in to change bikes, I crashed. We definitely weren’t lucky, but I’m convinced that tomorrow we have a great opportunity to be competitive again, especially if the conditions are dry.”


****************

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team had planned to use the Grand Prix of Spain Saturday to collect further race-weekend setting data. However, the damp conditions in FP2, dry conditions in qualifying, and mixed conditions in the Sprint meant the team had to contend with a lot of variety per session. Augusto Fernández was still riding competitively in the first ever flag-to-flag Sprint and ended the 12-lap dash in P13.

Fernández had qualified in P16 as the top Yamaha, but lost ground in the opening stages of the race, falling back to 22nd place. When the rain started to fall, the Yamaha test rider made the most of the situation. The test team was ready to let him switch to his wet bike in this unprecedented flag-to-flag Sprint situation. The number-47 rider climbed as high as P12 but lost a position on the final lap and took the chequered flag in P13, 19.777s from the winner.

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team will be back in action tomorrow for Warm Up, held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), and the 25-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.
Image gallery

AUGUSTO FERNÁNDEZ
Yamaha Factory Racing Rider"I had fun today. We had a bit of everything. It was not easy to manage, but I'm happy with my performance. In the quali, I managed to be the first Yamaha in the wet, so that was not bad. In the dry, I was able to improve the feeling a bit personally, but we still have to work on the bike. That said, I was a bit closer to the other Yamaha guys, which is my main goal as a rider. There's not much data to analyse today because of the wet sessions, but we were able to compare the feeling in the wet and the dry. In the Sprint, we focused on bringing the bike back to the box in one piece, having completed a full race-distance. This is also important for tomorrow so we have more data."

The Sprint race at Jerez turned into a highly unpredictable and disrupted contest, as changing weather conditions played a decisive role. What began as a dry race quickly evolved into a mixed-conditions challenge, with light rain intensifying into a heavy downpour in the closing stages, forcing riders to return to the pits to switch bikes. In the final corners before pit entry, several riders were caught out by the worsening grip, leading to multiple crashes and a total of six retirements by the end of the race. Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP endured a particularly difficult race in these circumstances. Toprak was unable to avoid a crash as the rain intensified and was forced to retire, bringing his race to an early end at a moment when track conditions were rapidly deteriorating.

Jack Miller also crashed in the same phase of the race but managed to recover, return to the pits, and rejoin on his second bike. However, a double long lap penalty for speeding in the pit lane further compromised his race, and he eventually crossed the line in 16th position after a challenging and eventful Sprint.

Beyond the final results, the constantly changing conditions also limited the team‘s ability to carry out consistent development work and refine the set-up of the Yamaha YZR-M1 — a key priority at this stage of the project that relies heavily on stable track conditions.

Looking ahead, the team will aim to regroup and make the most of Sunday‘s race, with the hope of more consistent conditions to continue progressing the development programme.

GINO BORSOI
Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
It was certainly an entertaining race for the fans, with a lot happening from start to finish. For us, it was also a race that could have offered an interesting result if we had managed things a bit better, especially considering that we tend to be quite competitive in wet conditions.

Unfortunately, these are the kind of races where small mistakes can make a big difference. Perhaps we needed a bit more patience to fully take advantage of the changing conditions when the rain arrived. In the end, it didn‘t go our way, but we take it as part of the process and aim to do better next time.

JACK MILLER
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider
Not an ideal day for us, but in these kinds of conditions you have to take risks and try to make the right calls. We were making good progress during the race, and the pace wasn‘t too bad, but when the rain started to come down it became a bit of a gamble.

On that lap we were debating whether to come into the pits or try to stay out, especially with only a few laps remaining. You‘re trying to make that decision in real time, doing the calculation in your head, and unfortunately we didn‘t get the timing quite right.

We still managed to finish the race in 16th, but I think we definitely had more potential today. It‘s a shame not to have made the most of it, but we‘ll take the positives and look ahead to tomorrow.

TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP rider
I was struggling from the beginning of the race, especially with braking, because the bike wasn‘t stopping the way I expected and I was making mistakes in several corners. Even with that, I had to keep pushing, because the corners are where we have the best chance to make up ground or try to pass.

When the rain started, I saw an opportunity as the pace dropped, so I tried to push harder. At Turn 5 I attempted to pass both Salvadori and Morbidelli, but I went onto a dirty line and, with the track becoming very slippery, I lost the front.

I‘m very sorry for involving Salvadori in the crash. That was not my intention. As soon as I fell, I went to check on him, and I was very relieved to see that he was OK.

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