In the first race of the 2026 season, riders weren’t taking it easy. Despite his crash in qualifying, Aprilia Racing pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi was still the favourite to win. However, despite his pace throughout the weekend, the race quickly became a three-way fight. Ultimately, it was Pedro Acosta and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing who took the win in Thailand, making Acosta the youngest MotoGP sprint winner.
A Battle From the Start
There was no waiting for action in the first race of the season. The front row all got good starts off the line; however, it was Marc Márquez who was the standout. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider immediately took the lead from favourite Bezzecchi. That wasn’t the end, though, with the #72 staying hot on the wheels of Márquez.
Despite the perfect start for the older Márquez brother, things weren’t the same for Álex Márquez. On the opening lap, he attempted a move up the inside of fellow Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio. It didn’t work, and he sent them both wide. This saw Di Giannantonio demoted to P13 and Á.Márquez to P18.
In his first MotoGP race, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu was impressive from the start. Whilst he started from P21, the rookie was the biggest mover in the early stages. Gaining six places on the opening lap, he found himself P15, just behind his Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP teammate Jack Miller. Francesco Bagnaia also showed his wheel-to-wheel skill, making up five places to be in the points within the first lap.
Two Yellow Flags
The Thailand Sprint race started as a two-way fight, with M.Márquez and Bezzecchi battling it out for P1. Just behind them, the Aprilias of Raúl Fernández and Jorge Martín were also in a battle, which allowed Pedro Acosta to sneak by into P3 and join the lead fight.
However, the three-way fight didn’t last long, as Bezzecchi caused the first yellow flag. Sliding out on entry to Turn 8 saw an early end for the #72. With the new rule stating riders can no longer restart their machinery trackside, he subsequently retired. After leading all of the sessions in the opening weekend, this came as a surprise for the Italian.
The second yellow flag came in the closing stages of the race, with Razgatlıoğlu also sliding out in sector four. After trailing his teammate for the race, the Turkish rider was the second-best Yamaha rider throughout the race. Despite the early end to his maiden voyage in MotoGP, he had shown his potential.
Battles Across the Grid
With Bezzecchi out, the race became a two-way fight as M.Márquez and Acosta built a gap back to Fernández in P3. The Spanish duo provided a nail-biting battle as they traded P1 with each lap.
Further back, Martín traded his battle with one Trackhouse MotoGP Team rider for another. After settling for fourth, Ai Ogura was soon on his wheels, and the battle began. Ultimately, Ogura won out, relegating Martín to P5. With three riders in the top five, Aprilia was the best manufacturer, proving their off-season advances were working.
After his early demotion, Di Giannantonio didn’t take long to get back fighting, and soon found himself battling for position with Bagnaia. Á.Márquez was also able to push forward again, finding himself battling the Honda trio of Diogo Moreira, Johann Zarco, and Luca Marini. Marini came out on top, placing P10, just missing out on a point.
Acosta Takes His Maiden Win
The race became a battle of the Spaniards. The young gun, Pedro Acosta, versus the unstoppable force of Marc Márquez. With rumours that the pair could be teammates in 2027, this was a showdown of what could come. M.Márquez wasn’t quite up to his dominant ways of last year, making small mistakes each lap. This allowed Acosta to stay within fighting range, and the pair were constantly swapping positions.
As the race came to a close, Acosta had a moment as he was settling into P1. M.Márquez tried to capitalise on this and launched up the inside. It didn’t quite work, though. Despite regaining P1 with just over a lap to go, he sent Acosta wide and found himself under investigation.
Ultimately, the stewards were in Acosta’s favour. This saw M.Márquez gain a penalty to give the position back. He let the young Spaniard through, which almost allowed Fernández to take P2. Acosta crossed the line as M.Márquez defended his second place. Taking his maiden win in the series, Acosta also became the youngest sprint winner.
The Podium Finishers Have Their Say
As the race finished, the podium trio had time to share their immediate thoughts.
“Today I feel super good with the bike. Today we made a good job. Tomorrow will be a very long race. Anyway, I’m happy we started the year super well.“
~ Third-place finisher Raúl Fernández on his podium finish.“In my opinion, race direction decides, so I just follow the rules. The battle with Pedro was an intense one. I was just trying to contol, I know that this championship is super long. 9 points after injury. Not bad, I’m happy.”
~ Marc Márquez on the battle and penalty.“Super cool to make a win like this versus Marc. It’s true that maybe I don’t feel really like a winner, you know, because he let me pass. But anyway, we have all the opportunities tomorrow. It’s a good way to start the season, but tomorrow maybe we will try to get the real victory.”
~ Pedro Acosta on his maiden win.
Thailand was not devoid of action for the first race. In his third year in the series, Acosta finally stands on the top step. Yamaha was the only manufacturer not to score points, a sign that their new V4 engine isn’t what they hoped for? Jorge Martín is under investigation for tyre pressure, so the results could change before the main race.
It may not be the ideal win for Acosta, but he starts the year with the championship lead. However, it is just one race. With 43 left, tomorrow sees the first feature race of the year. Can Acosta repeat his success, or will Bezzecchi recover from his tricky Saturday?