A dramatic and historic Catalan Grand Prix is in the books as Aleix Espargaro led a first-ever Aprilia 1-2 in MotoGP. After taking victory in the sprint, Espargaro led team-mate Maverick Vinales in Sunday’s main race to score his second grand prix win of the season on home soil after April's Spanish GP at Jerez, capping a remarkable weekend for the Noale factory.
It was almost overshadowed by a horrific accident for Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, whose leg was run over by Brad Binder on the opening lap of the grand prix after highsiding out of the lead at Turn 2. The ordeal made for uncomfortable viewing, but Bagnaia somehow managed to escape without any serious injuries.
His championship lead took a hit, as it was closed by Jorge Martin – who was third in the GP – from 66 after the sprint to 50. But that mattered little in the grand scheme.
Bagnaia's Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini wasn’t so fortunate, as he suffered fractured to an ankle and hand after triggering a multi-rider pile-up. This once again raised the discussion about aggressiveness in modern MotoGP and what can be done about it. Elsewhere, there were more struggles for the Japanese marques, while rider market talk dominated the off-track news in Barcelona.
With nine more rounds remaining this season, here is everything we learned from the 2023 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix.