Alex Marquez Crash Red-Flags Catalan MotoGP on Lap 12

Alex Marquez was taken to hospital for further examination after a lap 12 crash with Pedro Acosta red-flagged the 2026 Catalan MotoGP. The race stopped at lap 12 of 24, and the restart was set for 13 laps just before 2pm.

Marquez and Acosta on lap 12

Acosta hit trouble first on the back straight as he accelerated onto it and raised a hand to warn riders behind him. Marquez clipped him from behind, swerved off track and fell heavily at high speed. His Gresini bike then broke apart in a series of cartwheels.

The impact spread beyond the two riders. Debris from Marquez’s bike took out Fabio di Giannantonio, while Raul Fernandez and Johann Zarco were also caught up in the aftermath. Marquez was initially described as conscious, treated at the side of the circuit and then moved by ambulance.

Restart grid at lap 11

All riders were technically eligible for the restart except Marquez and Enea Bastianini, who had already retired with a technical problem on his KTM. The restart used the grid positions from the end of lap 11, putting the field back together under red-flag rules rather than preserving the damaged order from the crash itself.

KTM told MotoGP officials the various issues were not related, which left the Acosta problem and Bastianini’s retirement as separate entries in a chaotic race. Acosta’s team-mate had already had an issue on the warm-up lap and started from pit lane, adding another setback to a race that kept changing shape before the stoppage.

Marquez after the red flag

Marquez’s Saturday had already included a Sprint win, but the Grand Prix turned on the lap 12 collision and the medical response that followed. The latest update put #73 in hospital for further examination, with the restart carrying on without him and with the grid reset to the lap 11 order.