Qualifying
Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia laid down the marker for the 2026 season opener. Despite a late crash at the final corner, Bezzecchi’s blistering 1:28.652 enabled the Italian to secure the first pole position of the year at the Chang International Circuit.
A close battle at the top of the grid saw Bezzecchi set to be joined on the front row by reigning champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo), who, despite leaving everything out on the track, fell just short of pole position by 0.035s.
Joining the pair on the front row was Raul Fernandez, who graduated from Q1 earlier on, after missing out on an automatic place in Q2 in the timed practice session on Friday.
Some key points to take away from this session include: Francesco Bagnaia struggling significantly in qualifying, failing to escape Q1, with the two-time World Champion set to start 13th on the grid; whilst Diogo Moreira impressed on his premier-class debut, securing P15 as the second-best Honda.
Qualifying Top-10:
- Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia): 1:28.652
- Marc Marquez (Ducati): +0.035
- Raul Fernandez (Aprilia): +0.224
- Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati): +0.266
- Jorge Martin (Aprilia): +0.349
- Pedro Acosta (KTM): +0.409
- Alex Marquez (Ducati): +0.425
- Ai Ogura (Aprilia): +0.559
- Franco Morbidelli (Ducati): +0.669
- Joan Mir (Honda): +0.733
Sprint Race
Pedro Acosta claimed his first-ever premier-class victory (albeit in Sprint format) after a high-stakes duel with Marc Marquez. With the two riders going head-to-head over the course of 13 laps, Acosta also became the first KTM rider to lead the MotoGP World Championship, with Marc Marquez forced to settle for second and Raul Fernandez completing the podium.
Pole-sitter and pre-race favourite Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) looked strong in the initial lap as he battled with reigning champion Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) for the lead of the race, each rider taking advantage of multiple corners to make overtakes. However, the Aprilia rider saw his hopes for a race win evaporate on Lap 2, with the front end of his bike going out from under him, crashing out of the lead at Turn 3.
This left the door wide open for Marquez and the now charging Pedro Acosta to battle for the lead. The two Spaniards traded the lead three times in 13 laps; however, on the penultimate lap, Marquez made a lunging pass at the final corner that forced Acosta off track.
The incident was referred to race control for review, with the FIM Stewards deeming that Marquez’s move was too aggressive, ordering the #93 to observe a “drop one position” penalty. Marquez surrendered the lead on the final straight, allowing a slightly confused Acosta to take the chequered flag on his maiden Sprint victory.
Whilst Bezzecchi fell early on in the race, Aprilia didn’t walk away empty-handed as Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) secured an impressive P3 finish ahead of teammate Ai Ogura.
Sprint Race Top-10:
- Pedro Acosta (KTM)
- Marc Marquez (Ducati)
- Raul Fernandez (Aprilia)
- Ai Ogura (Aprilia)
- Jorge Martin (Aprilia)
- Brad Binder (KTM)
- Joan Mir (Honda)
- Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati)
- Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
- Luca Marini (Honda)
Grand Prix Race
After a crash in the Saturday Sprint saw victory taken away, Marco Bezzecchi continued an otherwise flawless weekend with a lights-to-flag victory. Taking the win by over five seconds, the Italian helped secure Aprilia’s first-ever hat-trick of Sunday wins (dating back to the end of 2025).
Behind, the battle for second initially seemed to be going in favour of Raul Fernandez, who was at one point over two seconds clear of the third-place fight. However, the Spaniard’s race pace began to fade towards the end, ultimately dropping down to third place across the finish line.
Despite winning the Sprint race, Pedro Acosta returned to his 6th place on the grid for the Grand Prix race, but he quickly began to cut his way through to the battle for third place, at this time between Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin.
Martin and Acosta dropped Marquez to an extent after a few laps; however, Martin soon began to fade, dropping into the clutches of Acosta towards the end of the first 10 laps. Acosta attempted to pass at Turn 12, although Martin was able to defend and beat him to Turn 1. Going into Turn 3, Acosta managed to out-brake Martin, before the latter cut underneath in the middle of the corner to exit side-by-side. Marquez capitalised on this, passing the pair on the run to Turn 4.
Jorge Martin’s pace soon began to fall, with the Aprilia dropping off the back of the battle, whilst Acosta soon found his way past Marquez at Turn 8, setting his sights on Fernandez further up the road.
The defending champion, Marc Marquez, suffered a high-speed rear tyre puncture (reportedly due to a damaged rim) on Lap 21, which forced him to retire. A lap later, Alex Marquez became the first and only rider to crash out of the race, going down at the same turn that Marc Marquez’s rear tyre deflation became apparent. It marked the first time since Silverstone 2021 (88 races ago) that no Ducati would appear on the podium.
After passing Fernandez, who was beginning to struggle with pace, Acosta crossed the line to claim P2, ensuring that the KTM rider leaves the first round as the Championship Leader. Fernandez finished third, partially thanks to the #93’s retirement from the race, which also saw the Spaniard move into third place in the World Championship standings behind Marco Bezzecchi.
Grand Prix Top-10:
- Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia)
- Pedro Acosta (KTM)
- Raul Fernandez (Aprilia)
- Jorge Martin (Aprilia)
- Ai Ogura (Aprilia)
- Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati)
- Brad Binder (KTM)
- Franco Morbidelli (Ducati)
- Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
- Luca Marini (Honda)
Leave a Reply