Barcelona is preparing to host the September 5th-7th Grand Prix with 24 riders on the provisional entry list.
All eyes are on Maverick Viñales. The KTM Tech3 rider, back from a mandatory hiatus, is going for it again after an aborted attempt in Austria. His absence dates back to when he injured his left shoulder in qualifying at the German GP, which forced him to miss that race and also the following round in the Czech Republic, where he was replaced by Pol Espargaró. After the summer break, the rider from Roses had been determinedly trying to make a comeback in Austria but, after putting his condition to the test on Friday and Saturday morning, he had to give into the pain, so KTM's test rider had to replace him, once again. Now, two months after surgery and after intensive rehab with physiotherapists, Viñales finally seems ready for his big comeback in what is, for him, his home race.
Somkiat Chantra's fight against time
Another important return is that of Thailand's Somkiat Chantra. The Idemitsu LCR-Honda rider injured his knee in a motocross accident in early July and was forced to undergo surgery. His absence spanned four Grand Prixs, which was made even more complicated by the fact that his rehab coincided with a three-week summer break, further limiting his recovery time. The Catalonia round represents a race against time for him. He'll undergo a decisive check-up on Monday, with the hope of being able to return to racing on Tuesday. The team says it's confident about his return for the Catalan weekend, which is crucial for the final phase of the season. This, in fact, will be his last year in the MotoGP with the LCR team. Next season, Chantra will be on his new adventure in the World Superbike, making way for the young Brazilian talent, Diogo Moreira,
Wildcards and full picture
The provisional list is embellished with two wildcards. Lorenzo Savadori will take to the track with the Aprilia but, for the first time this year, not as a replacement. This will be his tenth appearance of the season, but his first with the official wildcard role since, in the previous nine ,he had replaced an injured Jorge Martin, who's now happily back.
There's also great anticipation for Aleix Espargaró, who'll be racing with HRC, for which he's a test rider. This will be his fourth Grand Prix of the season, after appearances at Jerez, Silverstone, and Assen: the first two as an HRC wildcard, the last as a replacement for Luca Marini in the factory Honda team after he was injured. Ironically, Espargaró had been signed to replace Chantra in the Austrian and Hungarian GPs, but a bike injury had prevented him from answering the call.
What's new in the Moto2
The weekend will also be chock full of news in the Moto2. Spanish rider, Eric Fernandez, will race as a wild card with the FAU55 Racing team riding a Boscoscuro, while Dani Munoz will continue to replace an injured Deniz Oncu for the Team Ajo Senna Agius and Mario Aji, coming back from their respective injuries, are also waiting to return, after a fitness check-up.
The Catalan GP, the 15th round of the 2025 calendar, is eagerly awaited, especially for verifying Francesco Bagnaia's progress on his Ducati GP25 and, at the same time, bet on Marc Marquez's positive continuation. This is where he could get his first World Championship match point for Misano should his brother Alex run into another setback, which Marc obviously doesn't wish for.