MotoGP Sprint Spielberg 2026: Acosta crashes while leading

– Jorge Martin (Aprilia) won a turbulent sprint at the Austrian weekend of the MotoGP season 2026.

After 14 laps at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, former world champion Martin won ahead of the reigning world champion Marc Marquez (Ducati) and his own Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi. With this, Martin has now taken the sole lead in the current MotoGP overall standings 2026 ahead of the Grand Prix on Sunday.

The tragic hero on Saturday in Spielberg was Pedro Acosta. The KTM factory rider was on course for the sprint win when he crashed clearly in the chicane three laps from the end while leading. This ended the Saturday race for Acosta. He was one of only two riders who did not finish.

Hectic first lap with three leaders

Jorge Martin started from pole with Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta beside him in the first row. Martin was the first to turn into the first corner, followed by Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi, who started from P4.

Directly in the next braking zone, the entrance to the chicane, Marquez took the lead from Martin. The Spaniard in Aprilia service lost momentum and several positions immediately. But Marquez also did not return as the leader from the first lap.

Because in turn 3, Acosta took the lead from Marquez. The order in the top 5 after the first of 14 laps was: Pedro Acosta, Marc Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati), and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse-Aprilia).

Jorge Martin with a comeback from P8

Jorge Martin, who had fallen back to eighth place at one point, was seventh after the first lap behind Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). Bagnaia was one of only three riders in the field who chose the medium rear tire in the starting lineup. The other two: Luca Marini (Honda) and Alex Rins (Yamaha). All others ran soft all around.

At the front, Pedro Acosta and Marc Marquez battled, with Acosta – still a KTM rider and next year’s Ducati teammate of Marquez – prevailing in this duel.

Marco Bezzecchi held third position in the early phase, but behind him, Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin was gaining ground. Four laps after his unsuccessful first lap, Martin was fourth, shortly thereafter already third. That was not all.

Pedro Acosta crashes while leading

At the start of the eighth lap, Martin also overtook Marc Marquez. The maneuver in turn 1 succeeded, making Martin already second.

Under normal circumstances, Martin would not have caught up to leader Acosta anymore. But he didn’t have to, because Acosta gave him an unexpected gift. Three laps from the end, the KTM rider crashed in the chicane while leading.

At the finish, Jorge Martin had a one-second lead as sprint winner over Marc Marquez, who secured second place ahead of Marco Bezzecchi.

Voices of the top 3 in the sprint

“Of course, I was a bit lucky with Pedro’s crash, otherwise I would have been second,” winner Jorge Martin openly admits and reports: “I had a good start, but in the first lap, we were pretty much at the limit. I thought my chances were over. But I never gave up throughout the race. Coming from further back and winning in the end is just great.”

Marc Marquez, who finished second and thus lost the world championship lead back to Martin, is not too sad: “The goal for today was P3 in the sprint. I didn’t want to lose too many points to Jorge because I had already seen in practice that Pedro and Jorge had the better pace. Now I finished right behind Jorge. We were a bit lucky with Pedro’s mistake, but I am satisfied and ready for tomorrow.”

And Marco Bezzecchi, who finished third, is also happy. “I am very happy. The race was tough because I didn’t have the pace of the top riders like Marc, Pedro, and Jorge. But I never gave up at any time and tried to stay as close as possible. For tomorrow, we will try to improve further,” said the Aprilia factory rider from Italy.

Crash also for Franco Morbidelli

Behind the top 3, the other points positions in the Spielberg sprint were occupied by Ai Ogura, Alex Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco (LCR-Honda), Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini-Ducati), and Brad Binder (KTM). (Result: MotoGP sprint in Spielberg 2026)

Besides Pedro Acosta, Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati) also did not finish, who crashed in the chicane independently of the KTM rider.

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