Shashank Shekhar, Author at Desi Racing Co

The city of Barcelona has been a regular resident in the MotoGP calendar since the inception of the series. Now, we visit the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the 6th round of the 75th edition of the MotoGP championship.

Here are the top storylines to get you up to speed before the race weekend:

The Big Three – title fight

Following the close racing action we witnessed between Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, and Marc Marquez in France, it is safe to say the title fight is up and running. With Jorge Martin 38 points ahead of second place Francesco Bagnaia, it is statistically impossible to topple the championship leader. However, riders will use this weekend to close the gap as much as possible.

The top 5 in championship standings after the French GP

Marc Marquez is the only rider within the top three of the championship to have won around here. With Martin placing 3rd and 2nd in 2023 and 2022 respectively, will 2024 finally be the year he collects the final podium trophy?

The Catalunya circuit is one of the few places where Francesco Bagnaia has yet to score a podium. With p6 being the highest position yet for the Italian, he would be more than eager to change this trivia.

The Second Ducati seat

With the MotoGP season progressing, the riders are staking their claim for the illustrious factory Ducati seat. Riders like Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez present a strong case for themselves. However, current Ducati rider Enea Bastianini is not far behind in the championship standings either.

With Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna hinting they could announce the factory Ducati pairing by the next round at Mugello, the Catalan GP becomes the last possible showing available for the potential Ducati prospects.

Aprilia Ascendency?

The circuit of Catalunya favored the Aprilias the last time we visited the city of Barcelona. Aleix Esaparago of Aprilia won both the sprint and the Race last year after starting from P2 around here. Maverick Vinales had a strong showing as well. He qualified P4 and finished P3 in the sprint before making it a 1-2 for the Italian outfit come Sunday.

Aleix Esparago after winning the Catalan GP in 2023

With Maverick already holding a race and sprint win at COTA and another sprint wins at Portugal under his belt, Aprilia may continue from where they left off last year in Barcelona.

Honda’s Wildcard

With Joan Mir being the highest placed Honda at 18th position of the championship table, Honda is desperately trying to find answers. At the last outing in France, it was only Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami who placed in the top 15 and scored points for the Japanese constructors.

Honda is also deploying a wildcard for this weekend in the form of Stefan Bradl. He will be gathering all the important data for Honda.

A ray of hope for YAMAHA

The French GP might not look like much of a successful points haul for Yamaha on paper, but it surely shined some light of optimism. With Fabio Quartararo qualifying for Q2 directly through practice and placing P8 in Q2, it was a positive start to the weekend for Yamaha. Come Sprint, Yamaha was still looking decently placed with Fabio finishing at P10. On Sunday, the no. 20 Yamaha was running in 6th position before an unfortunate crash that ended his race.