u/AlesVerified

Pedro Acosta has admitted that creating a riders union in the moto gp is extremely difficult because of the naturally individualistic mindset shared by many competitors within the championship.

Following recent discussions surrounding rider safety and decision-making after the controversial events of the Catalan GP 2026, questions were raised about whether riders should organise more collectively to influence the sport’s direction.

Pedro Acosta, however, explained that the competitive nature of motorcycle racing makes true unity challenging, as riders are ultimately focused on personal success and gaining advantages over their rivals.

As Acosta stated.

"Pfff, no, I don’t think so. There are always loads of riders there when something on this scale happens, or when that incident in Malaysia happened last year in Moto 3. I don’t think we need to go every week (to the Safety Commission) to say that a new bump has appeared on the track.

I don’t think what happened yesterday could have been prevented by a Safety Commission meeting. You have to understand that, even though it might not seem like it, we drivers are actually quite self-centred. You’re always on the lookout for opportunities to make your mark."

Reigning world sbk champion Toprak Razgatlioglu continues to face a challenging adaptation process during his rookie moto gp campaign with Yamaha. Razgatlioglu is still adjusting to several aspects that differ significantly from superbike machinery, particularly the tyres and brakes. Razgatlioglu has struggled at times to consistently match the pace of the established front runners.

During the rain-affected official test at Barcelona, Toprak Razgatlioglu focused heavily on understanding how to maximise performance on soft tyres. An area where he believes fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo currently excels. Whom Razgatlioglu tries to copy.

As Razgatlioglu stated.

"I need to adapt my driving style to the soft tyres, because that’s very important in qualifying. If you set a good lap time and start from the front, you always stay in the leading group. But if you start from the back, it’s not easy to make your way up the field. I noticed that this weekend too. Fabio does a really good job on a fast lap with the soft tyres. But he also keeps up the pace in the race because he’s in the leading group."

The Catalan GP 2026 was overshadowed by multiple serious accidents. After the race was initially red-flagged following the horrific crash involving Alex Marquez, the event was restarted, only for another major incident to occur at Turn 1. Johann Zarco suffered the worst injuries in the second accident after his left leg reportedly became trapped beneath the motorcycle of Pecco Bagnaia.

Subsequent medical examinations revealed significant ligament damage in Joahn Zarco’s left knee, along with additional injuries sustained during the crash. Due to the complexity of the trauma, immediate surgery is not currently possible, and doctors are expected to wait until the initial swelling and damage begin to stabilise before proceeding with an operation.

LCR Honda later issued an official update through social media, stating.

"Following a thorough examination, it is estimated that he will need to wait a couple of weeks before undergoing surgery for the damage to his ligaments, allowing the initial trauma and other injuries to his knee some time to heal before the procedure. Following the surgery, a detailed recovery plan will be established, allowing the medical team to evaluate a possible timeline for his return."

Following the dramatic and incident-filled Catalan GP 2026, teams remained at the circuit for an official post-race test session. However, the programme was heavily disrupted by poor weather conditions, with rain forcing the test to be cut short after only the opening session.

Pedro Acosta finished the limited session as the fastest rider on track. After the physically and emotionally demanding race weekend, Acosta admitted he was relieved that the test programme remained relatively brief and uncomplicated.

As Acosta stated.

"Luckily, it was a short session. I mean, there wasn’t much to try out. We just worked on a few engine mappings and the bike’s setup. Nothing spectacular, but it looks as though everything went quite well. Let’s see what we can achieve at Mugello."

The Catalan GP 2026 was overshadowed by a horrific high-speed accident involving Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez. Acosta’s motorcycle reportedly suffered a sudden mechanical issue on the straight, causing it to slow dramatically. Marquez, following closely behind in the slipstream, was unable to avoid contact and crashed heavily into the run-off area near the barriers. The impact completely destroyed the motorcycle and resulted in Marquez being transported to hospital with multiple injury's

After the initial red flag and track clean-up operation, race officials elected to restart the event. However, another major incident occurred immediately after the restart at Turn 1, involving Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, and Luca Marini. Zarco suffered the most serious injuries and was also taken to hospital for further treatment.

Despite criticism from riders and fans regarding the decision to continue the race after multiple severe incidents, officials allowed a third start to proceed, with Fabio Di Giannantonio eventually taking victory. Sporting Director Carlos Ezpeleta defended race direction’s handling of the situation, arguing that the restarts complied fully with regulations and that the injured riders were not considered to be in critical condition at the time decisions were made.

As Ezpeleta stated.

"First, I want to say how fortunate we've been on Sunday. Of course, Alex and Zarco have major injuries, but it didn't get worse. The Alex and Pedro incident is very sort of isolated, it can always happen. It’s stuff that can happen in racing, but it's not sort of the normality, and there's not really a safe concern with the track there.

All the straights in the calendar of any circuit are similar to that. It’s important that KTM, together with the championship, is investigating everything that happened to Pedro's bike. Afterwards, the race direction decided to restart the race, which is normal. Then, unfortunately, we had another crash which can happen again in a race start, but again we were very, very unlucky with the dynamic of that crash, and the result of Zarco in his body, in the position and everything.

So, again, according to the rules and according to everything, I think race direction and the gorning body took all the correct decisions. Having said that, we have to debrief with the teams and the riders to see if there's anything that we can improve for the future in any type of way, because for us, safety is really important.

Of course, both riders were sort of out of critical condition, were conscious, so you would normally start the race under those conditions, no? Both accidents were very, very graphic and a really shocking image, and that's what probably started the conversation, but in the normality, the normal thing is to proceed with the race."

After the crash filled Catalan GP 2026, the rider had to work on their set up and test new parts at the official Test. The test at Barcelona however ended prematurely for Jorge Martin.

It was pretty early on in the session that Jorge Martin suffered his sixth crash of the weekend. Martin crashed heavily at turn seven and had to be attended by the medics.

While the Jorge Martin was conscious all the time, he was transported to the hospital for further check ups. Especially on the left elbow that seems to be injured.

Alex Marquez has shared a positive update following his major accident during the full-distance race at the Catalan GP 2026. During the race, Marquez had already been forced wide on two separate occasions but managed to recover strongly and regain competitive pace. Marquez was closing in on race leader Pedro Acosta and appeared ready to challenge for victory before disaster struck.

Pedro Acosta suffered a mechanical issue that caused his motorcycle to slow suddenly on the racing line. Alex Marquez, who was directly in the slipstream, had little time to react and subsequently crashed heavily near the barriers.

Medical personnel attended to Alex Marquez at the circuit for an extended period before he was transported to hospital for further treatment and evaluation. From hospital, Marquez later issued a reassuring message to supporters.

As Marquez stated.

"Everything's under control!! I'm scheduled for surgery tonight, but I couldn't be in better hands. Thank you all so much for your support and the kind messages I've been receiving."

Bimota Kawasaki expanded their superbike programme for 2026 by entering the British Superbike Championship. Remarkably, the project achieved its first podium result during only the second event of the season at Donington Park.

Rider Max Cook delivered an impressive weekend performance, finishing second in the opening race before adding two third-place finishes in races two and three. The results marked the first podium appearances for the Bimota Kawasaki project in the championship.

Max Cook expressed satisfaction with both the performance of the motorcycle and the team’s progress throughout the weekend.

As Cook stated.

"Overall I’m really happy with the result. The bike was working good. Even up to the end, you know, things started to heat up a little bit, and it was nice to be there and be part of that."

The Catalan GP 2026 was heavily overshadowed by two major accidents that resulted in riders being transported to hospital. The race was red-flagged twice and ultimately restarted three separate times before Fabio Di Giannantonio emerged victorious.

Pedro Acosta, who was involved in the first major incident, strongly criticised the decision to continue restarting the race following multiple serious crashes. According to Acosta, rider safety and well-being should always take priority over the spectacle of the event.

As Acosta stated.

"There’s not much to say about today’s race. The most important thing is that we know Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco are okay, as well as everyone else who crashed. Once again, we’ve had a Sunday that could have ended very badly. It’s not the most pleasant feeling in the world.

When something like what happened today occurs, it’s really awful that we act as if nothing happened and go out on track as normal. Even as riders, who already have some experience with these things. I understand that we have to go out after a red flag, but after the second one.

I don’t really agree that we should go out and race again after two red flags. If two nasty things have already happened in the same race, I don’t think there’s much point in going out again. I think people’s health comes before the show."

Moto America held the second round of its 2026 season at Barber Motorsports Park, where Mathew Scholtz delivered a commanding performance by winning both Superbike races of the weekend.

Mathew Scholtz controlled the races with impressive pace and consistency, securing what Scholtz described as his first double victory in the Superbike category.

Mathew Scholtz admitted after the event that he was still surprised by the level of performance shown throughout the weekend.

As Scholtz stated.

"Yeah, I mean, I think it’s the first double on the Superbike for me. You know, just kind of still shocked with how things went. And I got out front, maintained a pretty decent pace. I knew that I had to get past PJ as soon as I could and kind of pulled out to a 1.5-second gap, and it stayed there for three or four laps, and then it suddenly jumped by one-and-a-half seconds, so I kind of knew something happened then.

I saw Beaubier pulling it into the pits, and then, I just kind of settled into a pretty decent rhythm out there. The gap just got bigger and bigger, and, you know, brought it home in first place. I’m still just shook with how this year’s gone so far, but we’re gonna start to head west, to some tracks that aren’t my favorite, so I’m sure that we’re going to have our work cut out for us there. But overall, I’m just really pumped with how things have gone so far."

Nicolo Bulega arrived at the Most 2026 race weekend as the overwhelming favourite and once again delivered a dominant performance in the world sbk.

After already establishing a new championship record with 17 consecutive victories at the previous round, Nicolo Bulega further extended the streak at Most by winning all three races across the weekend. His latest triumphs increase his remarkable run to 20 consecutive victories.

Nicolo Bulega expressed satisfaction not only with the results, but also with the level of performance achieved by both himself and the team.

As Bulega stated.

"In the end, I won again and I'm very happy with my performance. We were much faster in the race than last year and have reached a very high level.We mustn’t forget that I’m only at the beginning of my third year in the Superbike World Championship. And yet I’ve already achieved great success, which I’m very proud of. I have a very good team and a very good motorcycle; with them, I can reach my full potential.

I have everything under control and can push whenever I want. The fact that I had that feeling in Balaton and Most is especially important to me,because those tracks aren’t exactly perfect for my riding style. I can’t just go for it there; I have to think things through. And when you think, you lose a few tenths of a second. That’s why I’m looking forward to Aragon—it’s a track I like. At least on paper, I should be better there than on the last two tracks. I hope to be able to keep it up."

Johann Zarco has shared an update on his physical condition following a major accident during the Catalan GP 2026. After the heavy crash involving Alex Marquez, race officials decided to stop the full length race and later restart the event. However, another serious incident occurred shortly after the restart, this time at Turn 1.

Johan Zarco became involved in a collision with Pecco Bagnaia and Luca Marini. While Bagnaia and Marini were able to return to the pit lane, Zarco required immediate medical attention at the circuit before later being transported to hospital for further evaluation.

Johan Zarco has since reassured supporters through a social media update, confirming that his injuries do not currently appear to be as serious as initially feared.

As Zarco stated.

"Hi everyone. Don't worry, we're still waiting for the test results. I'm wearing a neck brace, but it's more of a nuisance than anything else. It's mostly the knee—the ligaments gave out, but the femur isn't broken. There’s a small fracture at the bottom of the fibula, on the outside of my left ankle.

I’ll keep you posted. Just to reassure you, though: it’s more of a scare than anything serious, let’s say. I’ll keep you posted. I’ll be staying at the hospital tonight because they want to keep an eye on me, and then we’ll see."