Marquez beats Acosta to victory as Aprilia's title rivals collide
Marc Marquez recorded his 100th career victory after a scintillating battle with KTM’s Pedro Acosta, as both Aprilia riders crashed out in a dramatic Turn 1 at Balaton Park.
Marquez and Acosta made it out of the first corner unscathed and commenced battle, which was eventually won by the Ducati rider on lap 13 of 26 after which he pulled away to a dominant two-and-a-half second victory.
Both riders were given a comfortable gap for their duel by a five rider crash in which championship contending Aprilia team-mates Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin exited the race at the first corner.
Martin got out of shape under braking and wiped out Bezzecchi, as well as Trackhouse Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez, in a crash reminiscent of last season’s Japanese Grand Prix incident in which Martin also ploughed into his team-mate.
Gresini Ducati rider Fermin Aldeguer and VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio were also collateral damage from the Aprilia coming together, although Di Giannantonio was able to rejoin the action at the back of the field.
As the dust settled on the chaotic first corner, Acosta overtook Marquez at Turn 4 on the second lap, but was unable to break away from the Ducati rider in his bid for a maiden MotoGP grand prix victory.
Marquez began closing in on lap 11 and made multiple efforts to pass Acosta, who nudged the Ducati rider wide at the penultimate corner next time around.
Marquez refused to give up the fight, however, and passed the KTM rider at half race distance, eventually pulling away from Acosta to record his first grand prix victory of the 2026 season and first win in a Sunday race since Misano last September. He is now back within 72 points of Bezzecchi's championship lead.
Acosta now holds an unwanted record of being the MotoGP rider with the most podiums without winning a race, as he once again settled for second.
Pecco Bagnaia remained out of trouble throughout the race and rounded out the podium with a third place.
Aprilia’s sole representative remaining in the race, Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura, showcased his typical late-race pace and outdragged Honda’s Luca Marini to the line in their battle for fourth.
Diogo Moreira finished sixth ahead of an impressive stand-in ride from Iker Lecuona, with the Ducati WorldSBK rider passing Jack Miller’s Pramac Yamaha - which had run as high as fourth for much of the race - on the final lap.
Enea Bastianini received two long lap penalties, the first for clattering into the side of Honda’s Joan Mir after running wide at Turn 1, but still finished ninth.
KTM’s Brad Binder completed the top 10 after getting the better of Toprak Razgatlioglu in the closing stages of the race.
Di Giannantonio rejoined the race and finished 12th ahead of Yamaha’s Alex Rins and fellow VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli.
Tech3’s Maverick Vinales made sure all four KTM riders earned points by finishing 15th, despite serving a long lap penalty for a shortcut at Turn 10.
Results
1 Marc Marquez (Ducati)
2 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +1.343s
3 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +11.632s
4 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +15.539s
5 Luca Marini (Honda) +18.669s
6 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +21.794s
7 Iker Lecuona (Gresini Ducati) +22.815s
8 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +23.283s
9 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +24.491s
10 Brad Binder (KTM) +24.601s
11 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) +25.135s
12 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +28.386s
13 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +29.207s
14 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +31.333s
15 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +32.536s
16 Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +54.604s
DNF Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)
DNF Joan Mir (Honda)
DNF Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia)
DNF Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia)
DNF Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati)
DNF Jorge Martin (Aprilia)
