– Total triumph for Marc Marquez at the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano! With his fifth Grand Prix win this season, the seven-time and reigning MotoGP world champion has now taken the lead in the 2026 world championship for the first time this season.
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Jorge Martin, who came to Misano as the championship leader, finished fifth on Sunday and is now tied on points with Marquez. However, because the Ducati factory rider has more wins this season than the Aprilia factory rider, the championship lead has passed to Marquez despite the points tie. (MotoGP overall standings 2026)
Behind Marc Marquez, who won the Grand Prix after 27 laps, his brother Alex Marquez riding for the Ducati satellite team Gresini and KTM factory rider Pedro Acosta finished second and third respectively. Alex Marquez’s Gresini teammate Fermin Aldeguer also finished fourth ahead of Jorge Martin.
Aprilia and Gresini-Ducati with special designs
Marco Bezzecchi started from pole position thanks to his Q2 best time on Saturday, with Marc Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer joining him in the front row for the Grand Prix, just as in the sprint starting grid.
However, Aprilia and Gresini ran different designs on Sunday than on Saturday. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi and teammate Jorge Martin appeared in white. The special design was introduced to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Vespa, also in memory of Gilles Villeneuve, who wore a Vespa logo on a white Ferrari overall when he won the 1981 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The Gresini team with Aldeguer and Alex Marquez did not use the light blue standard design but a retro design in memory of Marco Simoncelli. On October 23 this year, the fatal accident of Simoncelli will mark its 15th anniversary. The official name of the Misano race track has honored the late Gresini rider from Italy for years.
Marco Bezzecchi wins start – and crashes in lap 1
This time, polesitter Marco Bezzecchi won the start, after it was Marc Marquez who reached the first corner first in the sprint on Saturday. Bezzecchi held the lead during the first three-quarters of a lap. However, in turn 13 he crashed spectacularly and was out.
Marc Marquez thus took the lead unchallenged this time. The defending champion and last year’s Misano winner led the field at the end of the first lap ahead of Jorge Martin, Fermin Aldeguer, Pedro Acosta, and Alex Marquez. The latter did not take long to overtake his two front riders. The order after a few laps was: Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin, Alex Marquez.
On lap 7, Martin braked inside past Marquez in turn 4 and took the lead. The Ducati factory rider stayed close as best he could and came under pressure from his brother Alex Marquez. However, on lap 12, Marc Marquez not only closed the small gap to leader Martin. In turn 6, he passed inside and regained the lead.
Two laps after Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez also passed Jorge Martin in the same way in turn 6. As for Martin, he soon had to yield to Pedro Acosta as well. Ten laps before the end, the top 5 order was: Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez, Acosta, Martin, Aldeguer.
Marc Marquez: “I will push until the end of the season”
The only change in the top 5 in the last 10 laps was Aldeguer passing Martin, which allowed Marc Marquez to leave Misano as the new championship leader.
Read more MotoGP live ticker Misano: Bezzecchi crashes! Marquez after victory world championship leader
“It really feels incredible, but you must never give up,” were Marc Marquez’s first words, who announced directly for the remaining season races: “I will push until the end. The matter is not decided yet, we are in the middle of it and fighting against very strong riders, especially Martin and Bezzecchi.”
“As we saw today, we ride at the limit, and a small mistake can cost many points. Today, after Bezzecchi’s mistake, I was a bit too confident and Martin attacked me because of that. But afterwards, I regained my confidence, kept the pace, and I am happy. These 37 points here in Misano mean a lot,” said the new championship leader.
Alex Marquez thinks of Simoncelli, Acosta puts pressure on KTM
Brother Alex Marquez, who finished second in the retro design in memory of Marco Simoncelli, says: “I am really happy and it is a real honor to wear these colors here. This podium is for Marco Simoncelli.”
And Pedro Acosta, who once again made it to the podium for KTM, though not quite to the top, says: “I put quite a bit of pressure on my people. Because today after the warm-up I was extremely angry, as it was quite a disaster again. I then said, especially to Pit [Beirer]: ‘Buddy, if you give me what I need, I will make it.'”
Behind the top 5 – Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez, Acosta, Aldeguer, Martin – the second half of the top 10 in the race result was made up by Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia), Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati), Enea Bastianini (Tech3-KTM), Luca Marini (Honda), and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha).
Completing the points positions were Brad Binder (KTM), Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac-Yamaha), and Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati), who both had to take a long lap penalty, as well as Pol Espargaro (Tech3-KTM). Only 14 riders finished in the points; all others retired. (Result: GP San Marino in Misano 2026)
Crashes also from Bagnaia, Miller, Moreira, Zarco
For Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), the Misano weekend did not turn positive on Sunday either. After P14 in qualifying and P13 in the sprint, he did not finish the Grand Prix. A crash in lap 6 brought an early end. It will not comfort “Pecco” that with 142 Grand Prix starts, he is now the longest-serving Ducati rider in MotoGP history. Until Sunday, it was Andrea Dovizioso with 141.
Crashes occurred besides Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi, who crashed directly in lap 1, also to Jack Miller (Pramac-Yamaha), Diogo Moreira (LCR-Honda), and Johann Zarco (LCR-Honda).
Joan Mir (Honda) and Alex Rins (Yamaha) also did not finish. In these two cases, however, crashes were not the reason. Rins retired due to a technical defect. Mir stopped with headaches. The 2020 MotoGP world champion had revealed on Saturday after P20 in the sprint that he was not feeling 100% fit this weekend.
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The MotoGP calendar 2026 continues directly next weekend with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. It will be the last race weekend before the start of the Asia tour, but not yet the last in Europe this season.
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