Pol went to the ground and Marc suffered his third consecutive fall of the season, while Oliveira took the victory at the Montmeló circuit.
The Repsol Honda Team riders started the weekend in Montmeló with enthusiasm, excited by the fact that this Grand Prix, the Monster Energy of Catalunya, was being raced at home. Both of them quickly caught up with the track, and especially with the new Turn 10 of the Catalan circuit. For the first time since the 2019 race, a limited number of MotoGP fans were able to return to the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit to cheer on their favorite riders.
Pol Espargaró enjoyed an excellent start at Montmeló, staying in the top three throughout Free Practice 1. In the end, he went from second to third, finishing the session 0.349 seconds behind first place. Practice 2 started similarly for the Granollers rider, who set a time in the top five almost immediately. Finally, a 1'39.983 led him to finish tenth and 0.748 seconds after Zarco.
Marc Márquez, for his part, finished on Friday with a best lap of 1'40.120. And, although 15th in the standings, the Catalan rider was just one second behind the best time and 0.137 seconds behind his teammate.
With practice 3, the riders returned to the charge on Saturday, starring in another tight session, in which a few hundredths of a second divided the riders in combined times. Unfortunately for the Repsol Honda duo, these hundredths of a second forced them to head to Q1.
The 1'39.170 that Pol scored in Q1 allowed the young Espargaró to go to Q2 and, therefore, to the first four rows. The # 44 showed good pace running in the top five on his final lap when a head-on collision at Turn 10 saw him end the session early, starting Sunday in 12th.
Marquez struggled for a spot in Q2, but the 0.011 seconds that separated Marc from his teammate made the Cervera rider unable to advance to Q2, and he lined up in 13th for the next day's race. This has become the third time that Marc has failed to advance to Q2 in the premier class.
On Sunday, clouds covered the sky over Barcelona, although the rain was still at bay. And, after a productive warm up, in which Pol finished sixth and Marc eighth, the asphalt was ready for the Catalan GP.
Marquez started the race strong and aggressive from the start, fighting at every turn not to let the leaders escape. After a few laps, # 93 was still sixth, but a mistake at renewed Turn 10 cost him the race, as he was unable to rejoin his teammates.
For Pol, the weekend was not easy either. In fact, he left the race when crashing into Turn 5 early in the race, after a busy start. It was undoubtedly a disappointing weekend for the Repsol Honda riders, who will keep trying in two weeks, when they arrive at Sachsenring to race the German Grand Prix.
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