Raul Fernandez moves from seventh to third after his fastest qualifying lap, initially cancelled due to yellow flags, is reinstated after the session.
The knock-on means Brad Binder drops to the head of row two, in fourth, and title leader Jorge Martin is now demoted to row three…
| MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Full Qualifying Results | ||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max |
| 1 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | 1’38.190s | 7/7 | 350k |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +0.031s | 3/8 | 350k |
| 3 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) | +0.071s | 6/7 | 351k |
| 4 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.144s | 6/8 | 353k |
| 5 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)* | +0.179s | 3/8 | 353k |
| 6 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +0.210s | 6/8 | 350k |
| 7 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +0.211s | 2/5 | 351k |
| 8 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.502s | 6/7 | 350k |
| 9 | Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.573s | 6/7 | 351k |
| 10 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +0.588s | 3/5 | 350k |
| 11 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +0.670s | 3/8 | 351k |
| 12 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +0.782s | 2/6 | 347k |
| Qualifying 1: | ||||||
| 13 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | 1’38.53s | 8/8 | 348k |
| 14 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | 1’38.536s | 7/8 | 352k |
| 15 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | 1’38.551s | 6/8 | 354k |
| 16 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | 1’38.662s | 7/8 | 355k |
| 17 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1’38.705s | 7/8 | 350k |
| 18 | Johann Zarco | FRA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 1’38.978s | 6/7 | 352k |
| 19 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | 1’39.12s | 6/8 | 355k |
| 20 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 1’39.156s | 8/8 | 347k |
| 21 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1’39.524s | 7/7 | 352k |
| 22 | Luca Marini | ITA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1’39.621s | 7/8 | 348k |
| 23 | Stefan Bradl | GER | HRC Test Team (RC213V) | 1’40.276s | 6/8 | 350k |
* Rookie
| Official Barcelona MotoGP records: |
| Best lap: Aleix Espargaro 1m 38.562s (2024) |
| Fastest race lap: Aleix Espargaro 1m 38.562s (2023) |
Aleix Espargaro continues a dream home weekend, after announcing his retirement at the end of this year, with pole position for the 2024 Catalan MotoGP.
The Aprilia star, who won both races a year ago, wrestled pole away from reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia by just 0.031s. The factory Ducati rider lost his best lap, a ‘pole’ time of 1m 38.128s, to yellow flags.
KTM’s Brad Binder put his Friday falls behind him by claiming a rare front row in third.
Title leader Jorge Martin and Pramac team-mate Franco Morbidelli fell moments apart at Turn 2, leaving them to watch the end of Qualifying 2 from the sidelines.
Martin starts from sixth, behind rookie Pedro Acosta and Qualifying 1 leader Fabio di Giannantonio.
Raul Fernandez, Alex Rins and Jack Miller form row three with Morbidelli, Enea Bastianini and a struggling Maverick Vinales completing the Q2 top 12.
Marc Marquez benefitted from a tow behind his brother and team-mate Alex throughout Q1.
But the eight-time world champion lost out to the rejuvenated Raul Fernandez, then fellow GP23 rider di Giannantonio, who broke Friday’s lap record by Espargaro. Espargaro then claimed it back with his 1m 38.190s pole time.
Alex also bumped Marc down a further place, meaning the Gresini riders will start side-by-side in 13th and 14th on the grid.