On a Sunday filled with drama at the Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya, Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team fought through red flags, crashes, and shortened race distance to secure a hard‑earned third place in the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya.
The race was halted twice before being reduced to 12 laps. Bagnaia was caught up — through no fault of his own — in the incident that triggered the second red flag, but at the restart he surged from fifth to third by the end of lap one. Despite battling dizziness and the after‑effects of the crash, he held on to finish fourth on track, later promoted to P3 after post‑race adjustments.
The podium completed an all‑Ducati sweep, with Fabio Di Giannantonio taking victory for VR46 Racing and Fermín Aldeguer finishing second for Gresini Racing.
Bagnaia admitted the day was physically and mentally draining: “Right now I’m in pain and feeling a bit dizzy. I took quite a big hit, but nothing compared to what happened to the others. In the end, we were lucky in what was a really intense day. When I felt the impact, I thought it was over, but then the crash happened and the impact with the gravel was really hard. I didn’t realize that Johann (Zarco) was still tangled up with the bike, and it was quite a traumatic moment. At the restart, I wasn’t expecting much because I had to jump onto a bike, I had basically never ridden before, with used tires as well.
I still got a good start, but after three laps my head started spinning and all I could do was switch to survival mode. Obviously, I’m happy with the podium, even though this isn’t the way we want — or feel we deserve — to achieve it, especially considering how hard the team is working. We simply need to keep working.”
With six rounds complete, Bagnaia now sits eighth in the championship with 63 points, just ahead of teammate Marc Márquez in ninth. Ducati Lenovo Team holds fifth in the team standings with 120 points, while Ducati remains second in the constructors’ championship on 165.
The team now turns its focus to Mugello, where the Brembo Grand Prix of Italy kicks off on May 29 — a home race where Bagnaia will look to build on his gritty Catalan podium.