After a 22-year hiatus, MotoGP returned to South America with the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix, scheduled as the second round of the 2026 MotoGP™ season (March 20-22).

Qualifying:

Fabio Di Giannantonio secured pole position for the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix, topping the timings in a dramatic session as MotoGP returned to the country for the first time in 22 years. Navigating the 3.835km Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna, Di Giannantonio clocked a 1:17.410 to edge out Aprilia Racing’s Marco Bezzechhi by just 0.070 seconds. Both riders remarkably made it onto the front row after initially having to battle through the Q1 session earlier that afternoon.

Despite heavy showers earlier in the weekend, the track remained dry throughout the session; however, the Goiania circuit caught out several riders. Francesco Bagnaia was the first rider to go down in Q2, losing control of his factory Ducati at Turn 10 just three minutes into the session. Championship leader Pedro Acosta was the next rider to crash, falling victim to the notorious Turn 4, with Marc Marquez also coming off his bike at the same corner soon after.

Marquez managed to salvage third place on the grid at the chequered flag despite his fall; however, Acosta and Bagnaia were less fortunate, with the KTM rider finishing in ninth, while the latter struggled to regroup, ending the session in 11th and set to start from the fourth row of the grid.

During the second run, Di Giannantonio fractionally improved his previous flying lap time; however, he was left vulnerable in the final minutes of qualifying. Aprilia’s Jorge Martin looked set to go quicker than the Italian, but he soon went down at Turn 6 with just three minutes left on the clock, leading to the yellow flags being flown. Provisional polesitter Di Giannantonio suffered his own late crash at Turn 4 shortly after, although no one was able to match his best time, seeing the VR46 Racing Team rider take his second career pole position.

Behind the front row, Fabio Quartaro delivered an impressive performance to place his Yamaha in fourth, alongside Jorge Martin and rookie Ai Ogura, who qualified fifth and sixth, respectively. Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer secured seventh place in his first qualifying of the 2026 season after recently suffering from a femur fracture. Fellow compatriot and teammate Alex Marquez finished eighth, with Pedro Acosta and Johann Zarco rounding out the top-10.

Qualifying Top-10:

1. Fabio Di Giannantonio
2. Marco Bezzecchi
3. Marc Marquez
4. Fabio Quartararo
5. Jorge Martin
6. Ai Ogura
7. Fermin Aldeguer
8. Alex Marquez
9. Pedro Acosta
10. Johann Zarco

Sprint Race:

Defending champion Marc Marquez secured his first victory of the 2026 season in the Brazilian Tissot Sprint Race after a dramatic 15-lap encounter around the Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna, ahead of pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio and Aprilia’s Jorge Martin.

The session saw an 80-minute delay as a result of a sinkhole, reportedly caused by a burst drainage pipe following heavy rainfall, that appeared on the main straight. Despite these issues, Fabio Di Giannantonio, who had secured pole position earlier in the day, made a perfect start to his sprint race, building a comfortable lead. 

Behind him, Marc Marquez initially dropped a position to a fast-starting Fabio Quartararo, with the Frenchman moving up into third and then quickly shuffling into second place. However, by Lap 3, Marquez attacked back before Turn 1 to reclaim second place, with Quartaro ultimately going wide and allowing Bezzecchi through into third. The Monster Yamaha rider dropped a further place on the following lap down the start to the second Aprilia of Jorge Martin.

As the race reached its latter stages, Marquez began a relentless pursuit, gradually eating away at Di Giannantonio’s lead lap by lap. The reigning World Champion managed to close the gap completely with three laps to go, capitalising on a slightly wide line taken by the race leader, going side-by-side on the exit of Turn 12 before taking the lead on the run to Turn 13. Di Giannantonio remained glued to the rear of Marquez’s Ducati for the final two laps but was unable to find a way back past.

The battle for the final podium spot was an all-Aprilia affair between teammates Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi, with Martin capitalising on a mistake made by the Thailand Grand Prix winner at Turn 9 to move into third place at the halfway mark. This result marks the first time the 2024 World Champion has stood on the podium since the 2024 Solidarity Grand Prix Sprint, and his first podium for Aprilia Racing.

Ai Ogura finished fifth for Trackhouse Racing, with Fabio Quartararo managing to place his Yamaha in sixth after a strong performance in the opening stages of the race. Championship leader Pedro Acosta managed to grab a solitary point in ninth place – enough to see him retain his lead in the standings – whilst rookie and local hero Diogo Moreira performed for the home crowd by finishing tenth, albeit just narrowly outside of the points.

Three riders failed to make it to the chequered flag of the Sprint race, with Honda suffering a double blow as both Joan Mir and Johann Zarco crashed – Mir going down in Sector 2 on the second lap of the race, whilst Zarco retired on Lap 8 after hitting the deck at Turn 1. Maverick Vinales was the third rider to lose control and DNF from the race, finishing 18th in the classification.

Sprint Race Top-10:

1. Marc Marquez
2. Fabio Di Giannantonio
3. Jorge Martin
4. Marco Bezzecchi
5. Ai Ogura
6. Fabio Quartararo
7. Alex Marquez
8. Francesco Bagnaia
9. Pedro Acosta
10. Diogo Moreira

Grand Prix:

Marco Bezzecchi claimed victory in the 2026 Brazil Grand Prix around the Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna, leading every lap of the race to secure his second win of the season and his fourth consecutive Grand Prix victory. He finished 3.2 seconds ahead of his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin, delivering a dominant 1-2 performance that launched the Noale factory to the top of the Constructors’ Championship.

After the logistical hurdles before the Sprint race the day prior, Sunday’s main event brought further last-minute adaptations. Due to concerns over rapid track degradation caused by the high heat and humidity, race directors made the decision to cut the race distance from 31 laps down to 23 just minutes before the lights went out.

Bezzecchi nailed the start to take the holeshot, with Di Giannantonio slotting into second after starting from pole position and Marc Marquez holding third. Marquez soon found pace on the following lap, moving into second, whilst Red Bull KTM Factory rider Pedro Acosta moved into fourth ahead of Jorge Martin after initially starting from ninth on the grid.

Whilst the gap to the race leader began to stretch out further, the battle to watch seemed to be for the remaining places on the podium, with Lap 6 seeing Di Giannantonio making a lunge up the inside of Marc Marquez, forcing the pair to go wide out of the corner and allowing Martin to complete a double overtake to move into second.

Now through into second, Martin began the charge to cut into Bezzecchi’s lead, shaving off some tenths over the next couple of laps. Behind, the yo-yo battle between the #93 of Marquez and the #49 of DiGiannantonio continued. With five to go, Marquez moved up the inside at Turn 6 to move into third; however, on the following lap, he ran deep out of Turn 11, allowing DiGiannantonio back through the open space.

Bezzecchi eventually crossed the line to take his fourth Grand Prix victory in a row – a historical first for the Aprilia team – and the lead of the Championship at the same time. Martin followed him across the line to make it a 1-2 for Aprilia in the race and the rider standings. Di Giannantonio held on to take the chequered flag in third for his first Grand Prix podium of the year, with Marc Marquez forced to settle for fourth place.

Ai Ogura replicated his Sprint Race performance to finish fifth ahead of Alex Marquez, with Pedro Acosta forced to settle for seventh. Gresini’s second bike of Fermin Aldeguer took eighth on his return after breaking his femur, ahead of Johann Zarco and Raul Fernandez in tenth.

Several riders failed to make it to the chequered flag, falling victim to low grip and the loose asphalt, including Jack Miller, who crashed at Turn 2 on the second lap after an earlier electronic issue at the start, Brad Binder, Joan Mir, and Francesco Bagnaia, who crashed out from 11th place on Lap 11 at Turn 1.

Grand Prix Top-10:

1. Marco Bezzecchi
2. Jorge Martin
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio
4. Marc Marquez
5. Ai Ogura
6. Alex Marquez
7. Pedro Acosta
8. Fermin Aldeguer
9. Johann Zarco
10. Raul Fernandez