Bezzecchi’s record run rolls on at COTA

Italian star takes fifth straight win and a lap-leading record as Aprilia go 1 – 2 again

Marco Bezzecchi’s red-hot start to 2026 just keeps gathering momentum, with the Aprilia Racing rider claiming a fifth Grand Prix victory on the trot and continuing a streak of milestones that’s quickly becoming the theme of the season. The #72 is now only the third Italian to win five in a row, and he’s also the first rider since Marc Marquez in 2014 to win the opening three Grands Prix of a season. Behind him it was another dream result for Aprilia, with Jorge Martin backing up his Tissot Sprint win by making it a second consecutive Aprilia 1-2, while Pedro Acosta completed the podium for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

Acosta launched hard from the front row to grab the holeshot, but Bezzecchi was immediately on the move too, charging into second as Martin fired up into third. The first real flashpoint arrived early at Turn 11 when Acosta ran deep and Bezzecchi dove up the inside on the tighter line. They exited side-by-side and clouted fairings, with a piece of Aprilia bodywork breaking free and flicking away behind them, but Bezzecchi held the lead and Acosta quickly regrouped as Martin stayed close in third.

Further back, the fight inside the top group ignited with Fabio Di Giannantonio leading Marc Marquez, before Francesco Bagnaia worked his way past the #93 and Honda’s Joan Mir followed him through. As Bezzecchi continued to tick off laps at the head of the field, another record fell: by leading every lap up to the start of Lap 4, he officially moved ahead of Jorge Lorenzo’s 2015 benchmark of 103 consecutive laps led in the modern era, with Lap 4 at COTA taking Bezzecchi to 104.

Marc Marquez then served a Long Lap penalty for his Sprint incident with Di Giannantonio and rejoined without issue. Mir was later handed a Long Lap for a shortcut while battling over fourth, but the #36 crashed not long after.

Up front, Martin began probing Acosta for second, and although an initial lunge didn’t stick, the pressure stayed on. A couple of laps later Martin had a big moment at Turn 1, saved it, and in doing so brought Di Giannantonio right back into the conversation with Bagnaia also closing in.

At halfway, Bezzecchi led Acosta by about a second, with Martin, Di Giannantonio and Bagnaia stacked up behind. Ai Ogura was making progress in sixth after taking the place from Alex Marquez, with Sprint podium finisher Enea Bastianini right there too. Marc Marquez, after the Long Lap, sat ninth and wasn’t making rapid gains on the riders ahead.

Ogura and Bastianini were the big movers as the laps rolled on. Ogura closed right up to Bagnaia and then, by Lap 12, forced his way past in an aggressive but clean move, before setting his sights on Di Giannantonio and slicing through at Turn 12 in similarly decisive fashion. Moments later, Acosta had a Turn 1 wobble, and Martin swept past to turn the leading fight into an Aprilia 1-2, with Ogura continuing to threaten behind.

That charge ended abruptly when Ogura slowed and pulled off line with a technical problem, just as the scrap for the remaining top-six places was flaring. Marc Marquez muscled by Alex Marquez and then Bastianini to latch onto Bagnaia, setting up a direct fight for fifth, but Bastianini refused to play a supporting role. He went at Marquez, Marquez responded, and Bastianini fired in again at the end of the back straight before Marquez cut back. Not long after, Marquez attacked Bagnaia and Bastianini drove through to follow.

At the front, Bezzecchi managed the gap to Martin and controlled the final lap to win by 1.7 seconds, stretching that lap-led record out to 121 and locking in that rare fifth straight win, joining Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini as the only Italians to do it. Martin’s second ensured Aprilia landed back-to-back 1-2 results for the first time, and while he “only just loses that Championship lead gained with his Sprint Gold medal,” the momentum remains firmly with the Noale brand. Acosta held onto third to add a Sunday trophy to his weekend.

Di Giannantonio came home fourth in what became a relatively solitary run to the flag, but it was enough to finish as the top Ducati. Marc Marquez held fifth ahead of Bastianini, with Alex Marquez taking seventh. Raul Fernandez finished eighth for Trackhouse, while Luca Marini and Fernandez both found a way past Bagnaia late.

In the championship standings, Bezzecchi and Martin have strengthened Aprilia’s early-season stranglehold at the top, with the factory Aprilia pair having skipped slightly clear of Acosta in third. Behind them, Marc Marquez endured a bruising round that’s left his title defence looking shaky just three races into the year, dropping him back to fifth in the title race and already 36 points behind after only three rounds. The other big story from the weekend is the rebirth of Jorge Martin as a genuine title challenger. No many would have picked him to sit second in the championship standings just 4 points from the lead after his well-documented struggles, but he looks to have finally married his style to the RSGP’s needs and could become his teammate’s biggest challenger as MotoGP returns to his favoured European circuits.

After a chaotic Texas weekend, MotoGP now gets a short breather before heading to Jerez in a few weeks, as the paddock shifts to Europe with Aprilia looking increasingly in control of the title fight.

MARCO BEZZECCHI (1st)
“On Saturday I made an unfortunate mistake, but the team was very supportive. Today it was important to have a good race: I’m really happy and excited. I’ve dreamed for a long time of doing well on this track, which I’ve always liked, but where I’d never managed to finish the way I wanted. Having a race like this was incredible.” 

JORGE MARTÍN (2nd)
“I’m really happy and very grateful to Aprilia. I gave it my all, and that makes me very proud. On Saturday, I had the satisfaction of winning the sprint, and on Sunday, I gave it my all. Marco was incredible: I tried to make up ground on him, but I was pushing too hard physically, and I had to slow down in the last three laps. I’ve always struggled on this track, so to be on the podium here, after missing last year, is fantastic.” 

PEDRO ACOSTA (3rd)
“Not the calmest first lap! I was happy because I needed a new bike after my crash in warm-up and the guys had to rebuild it, so they are the heroes of the weekend. I’m happy, we’re on the podium again and we keep this top five consistency.”

2026 MotoGP COTA Race

2026 MotoGP World Standings after Round 3