Pedro Acosta wins Thai Sprint classic

KTM star takes his first MotoGP win after epic duel with Marquez as stewards intervene on final-corner contact

MotoGP’s 2026 season roared into life in Thailand with the field lining up for the first time this year in absolutely stifling conditions, the hottest it’s been all weekend. From P2 on the grid Marc Marquez nailed the launch and led early, as Alex Marquez ran Fabio Di Giannantonio wide and into the run-off in the opening exchanges. The lead then briefly flipped when Marco Bezzecchi attacked through, only for Marquez to strike back at Turn 12 as the front group started trading blows immediately.

By Lap 2 Pedro Acosta was already up to third and closing fast, and when Marquez ran a touch wide Bezzecchi pounced again—before the sprint turned on its head as Bezzecchi lost the front at Turn 8 and crashed out. Acosta moved onto Marquez’s tail and the dynamic of the race was set: the KTM was mighty on the brakes into Turn 12, the Ducati unbeatable on the drive back down the straight, with Acosta repeatedly forcing his way past only for Marquez to power back through.

Raul Fernandez soon entered the fight for the podium, rapidly making ground, while Jorge Martin—looking as good as he has in a long time—scrapped hard to hold position until Fernandez finally displaced him. Behind them, Bagnaia made strong early progress, helped by the space created after Bezzecchi’s fall. Further back, Ai Ogura climbed past Joan Mir for fifth.

Marquez was trying to break Acosta in the final laps approached but a head shake onto the straight allowed Acosta to make back some ground before diving through again at 12. With four laps to go Marquez ran wide at Turn 3 but saved it, and the pair continued their relentless swap-and-counter until Acosta led across the line on Lap 11, hinting he could steal it if he timed the last lap right.

The finale delivered maximum drama. Marquez dive-bombed Acosta at the final corner and contact forced the KTM wide, initially giving Marquez a gap—only for the stewards to order him to drop one position. With the instruction coming late in the lap, Marquez ceded the place with no time to retaliate, handing Acosta a statement win. Pedro Acosta took victory with Marquez shadowing him across the line in frustration, and Raul Fernandez completing the podium just half a second back. It was an all-time classic sprint to open 2026 – if this is the tone for the season, we’re in for one hell of a year. In a day of firsts, it’s also the first time KTM have ever lead the MotoGP world championship.

Behind them, Ogura secured fourth (+2.100), Martin was fifth (+3.851), Binder sixth (+4.612), Mir seventh (+4.924), Di Giannantonio eighth (+5.748), Bagnaia ninth (+6.910) and Marini rounded out the top 10 in tenth (+7.796). Jack Miller was the top Yamaha finisher in 15th position, with the new V4 project clearly still a long from being competitive.

Pedro Acosta – P1
“It’s super cool to make a sprint like this, with 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 opportunity tomorrow. The bike is working super fine. I just want to thank everyone that was working super hard, also the people that are helping me every day at home, and my management team, that are always able to give me a place to train for this. I know it’s a good way to start the season, but tomorrow maybe we will try to get this real victory.”

Marc Marquez – P2
“When I saw Bezzecchi crash, then I just slowed down the race. I was just trying to control. I know that this championship is super long, and it was what I tried to do: control the pace of the race. Unfortunately I got that penalty. Not bad. I’m happy.”

Raul Fernandez – P3
“As I said this morning in qualifying, it was for the team. The team made together a super good job. Today wasn’t super good, normally, with the soft tyre. I don’t really like it, but today we made a good job anyway. Tomorrow will be a very long race. I managed because I saw the gap with Martin, so basically I said, “Enjoy yourself with Marc and Pedro.” It was fantastic. And when I was close to them, maybe for tomorrow we can find something, because especially in the first sector and second sector they were taking a lot of time. But anyway, I’m happy we started the year super well. It is the first time also that I started the MotoGP championship with points in the first race, so I’m very happy.”

THAI MOTOGP SPRINT RACE