Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team bounce back to sixth in Montmeló's Sprint

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MotoGP | 16 May 2026

Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team bounce back to sixth in Montmeló's Sprint

• Alex Márquez takes the win with the Ducati of the Gresini Racing Team. Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Racing Team) is third

The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the second day of action for the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya. At Montmeló, Francesco Bagnaia secured a sixth-place finish in the 12-lap Sprint at the Catalan venue.

After missing out on Q2 by only 0.051s, Bagnaia got a good start from the fifth row and made his way up to ninth place by the beginning of lap two. Pecco then moved into sixth position with five laps remaining, while showing an encouraging and consistent pace aboard his Desmosedici GP machine.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9:40 local time (GMT +2) for the warm up, which will be followed by the sixth race of the season, contested over a 24-lap distance from 14:00.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 6th
“We made another small step forward, which is important. It wasn't easy because tyre wear is very significant at this track, but we managed to complete the Sprint with a good pace. We're continuing to give it our all, knowing that our potential is higher than this. The constant this weekend is that I'm able to be quite fast with used tyres. The issue is in the early stages: I can't be as competitive in the opening laps because I lack the initial drive traction-wise at the exit of three corners. We're working on this area and already made some improvements, so we need to continue in this direction.”