Marc Marquez beat Pedro Acosta in an epic duel to claim an emphatic MotoGP victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Aprilia duo Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi collided at the start.
After losing the race lead early on, Marquez set a series of fast laps to close the gap back to Acosta, passing the KTM rival just after the midway point to claim a double win at Balaton Park Circuit.
The result also marked the Ducati rider’s first grand prix win of 2026, just a month after he underwent a double surgery to address a shoulder injury and the lingering problems on his right shoulder.
Francesco Bagnaia joined his team-mate on the podium, while Ai Ogura was the only Aprilia rider to score points on a horrible day for the Noale factory.
At the start of the race, 2024 champion Martin lost his Aprilia under braking for Turn 1 and crashed into his team-mate Bezzecchi, who in turn, tagged the bikes of Fermin Aldeguer, Raul Fernandez and Fabio di Giannantonio.
Only di Giannantonio was able to remount his bike, with the three Aprilias and Gresini’s Aldeguer taken out of the race on the spot. This was the second such incident between the two factory Aprilias, after Martin triggered a similar crash in last year’s Motegi sprint.
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team, Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing, Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
With several frontrunners knocked out from contention, Marquez and Acosta quickly broke away from the front. Bagnaia also took advantage of the situation to climb up to third, while some of the other big gainers were Jack Miller (Pramac) and Luca Marini (Honda), who suddenly found themselves in fourth and fifth respectively.
At the front, Acosta began piling pressure on Marquez, eager to prevent a repeat of Saturday’s sprint when the reigning world champion checked out in the opening three laps.
Following him closely in the first sector, Acosta sent his KTM up the inside into Turn 5, making the move stick to grab the lead of the race. Once in front, Acosta stretched out a lead of over a second by lap five of 23, but Marquez closed the gap back down to three tenths at the halfway point.
The battle between the two intensified on lap 14 when Marquez completed a move into the Turn 9-10 chicane, only for Acosta to repass him into Turn 12.
Marquez attempted yet another pass into the final corner but the two riders made contact, with Acosta hanging on to the lead.
On the following tour, Marquez again repeated his pass into the chicane, but got a much better exit this time to eliminate any chance of a counter attack.
The nine-time world champion eventually took the chequered flag by 1.3s, securing a first grand prix win since last September’s San Marino GP.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Acosta had no answer to Marquez’s pace but bagged a solid haul of points in second, while Bagnaia finished five seconds adrift in third to claim his third consecutive podium.
The best-of-the-rest spot went to Trackhouse rider Ogura, who climbed from 11th on the opening lap to finish fourth, passing Honda rider Marini on the penultimate tour.
LCR rookie Diogo Moreira claimed a solid sixth place, while Iker Lecuona’s promising MotoGP return continued as he grabbed seventh for Gresini.
Miller held on to eighth on his underpowered Yamaha, ahead of the KTMs of Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder.
Tech3 rider Bastianini was fighting with Joan Mir for seventh, but picked up a long-lap penalty when he ran wide at Turn 1 and side-swiped the Honda as he returned to the racing line.
Meanwhile, Toprak Razgatlioglu finished 11th for Pramac, while di Giannantonio recovered from the opening lap melee to finish 12th ahead of Yamaha’s Alex Rins and VR46 team-mate Franco Morbidelli.
Tech3’s Maverick Vinales picked up the final point in 15th, while substitute rider Cal Crutchlow was 16th and last of the classified finishers.
Joan Mir joined the list of retirees when he crashed at Turn 11 on lap 15, while Fabio Quartararo also suffered a DNF after pulling into the pits for unknown reasons.
MotoGP Hungarian GP results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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