Marc Marquez went ‘bar-to-‘bar with Pedro Acosta to secure a long awaited 100th grand prix victory – and take a big chunk out of Marco Bezzecchi’s title lead – in the 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
The race began with drama when Jorge Martin lost control under-braking for Turn 1 and – like Motegi last season – slammed into Aprilia team-mate Bezzecchi.
Fabio di Giannantonio, Raul Fernandez and Fermin Aldeguer were also taken down in the carnage.
Bezzecchi and Martin went to the medical centre, with no fractures found, while third in the world championship di Giannantonio rejoined at the back of the field before fighting all the way to tenth.
The incident is under investigation.
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Martin, Bezzecchi, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
Sprint runner-up Acosta had been the only rider on the front two rows not to pick the medium rear tyre, although most others joined the Sprint runner-up in fitting the soft in pursuit of early race performance.
Marquez initially got wheelspin from pole position but was able to hold the early advantage until Acosta made a pass on lap 2. The pair then traded fastest laps, while pulling away from the field.
Battle commenced with 13 laps to go when Marquez dived under Acosta into the Turn 9 chicane. Acosta cut back on the exit, forcing the Italian to sit his bike up.
Marquez lunged again at the final chicane, but Acosta held firm on the outside.
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It was a case of third time lucky for Marquez when he made a Turn 5 pass stick next time around for his first win since Misano last year.
Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
Team-mate Pecco Bagnaia emerged from the opening lap in third, then kept well clear of a big brawl for fourth involving Jack Miller, Luca Marini, Diogo Moreira, Joan Mir, Ai Ogura and stand-in Iker Lecuona.
Ogura eventually won that battle, with Lecuona delighted with seventh.
The Czech Grand Prix at Brno takes place in two weeks.
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2026 Hungarian MotoGP, Balaton Park – Race ResultsPosRiderNatTeamTime/Diff1Marc MarquezSPADucati Lenovo (GP26)26 laps2Pedro AcostaSPARed Bull KTM (RC16)+1.343s3Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP26)+11.632s4Ai OguraJPNTrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26)+15.539s5Luca MariniITAHonda HRC Castrol (RC213V)+18.669s6Diogo MoreiraBRAPro Honda LCR (RC213V)*+21.794s7Iker LecuonaSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26)+22.815s8Jack MillerAUSPramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)+23.283s9Enea BastianiniITARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)+24.491s10Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+24.601s11Toprak RazgatliogluTURPramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)*+25.135s12Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26)+28.386s13Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+29.207s14Franco MorbidelliITAPertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25)+31.333s15Maverick ViñalesSPARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)+32.536s16Cal CrutchlowGBRCastrol Honda LCR (RC213V)+54.604s Fermin AldeguerSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) Joan MirSPAHonda HRC Castrol (RC213V) Fermin AldeguerSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) Marco BezzecchiITAAprilia Racing (RS-GP26) Raul FernandezSPATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) Jorge MartinSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP26)
* Rookie
Warm-up: 
Fermin Aldeguer, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
Fermin Aldeguer leads morning warm-up for the 2026 Hungarian MotoGP at Balaton Park from Pedro Acosta and title leader Marco Bezzecchi.
Sprint winner Marc Marquez was fifth for Ducati, ahead of Bezzecchi’s Aprilia team-mate Jorge Martin, who fell.
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Just over half of the riders switched from the soft to medium rear tyre in preparation for the grand prix.
However, Acosta, Marquez, Iker Lecuona were among those to use the soft this morning.
HRC’s Joan Mir also fell during the ten-minute session.
The 23-lap grand prix starts at 2pm local time (1pm UK).
Jorge Martin, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
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2026 Hungarian MotoGP, Balaton Park – Warm-up ResultsPosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax1Fermin AldeguerSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25)1’37.68s5/6293k2Pedro AcostaSPARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.320s5/6297k3Marco BezzecchiITAAprilia Racing (RS-GP26)+0.569s6/6298k4Diogo MoreiraBRAPro Honda LCR (RC213V)*+0.585s5/6296k5Marc MarquezSPADucati Lenovo (GP26)+0.637s6/6297k6Jorge MartinSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP26)+0.659s5/5294k7Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26)+0.674s6/6297k8Raul FernandezSPATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26)+0.675s5/6293k9Iker LecuonaSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26)+0.820s5/6293k10Enea BastianiniITARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)+0.883s6/6297k11Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.961s6/6289k12Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP26)+1.045s3/6296k13Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+1.067s5/6297k14Franco MorbidelliITAPertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25)+1.107s6/6294k15Luca MariniITAHonda HRC Castrol (RC213V)+1.128s6/6296k16Maverick ViñalesSPARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)+1.436s5/6294k17Toprak RazgatliogluTURPramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)*+1.828s2/6293k18Ai OguraJPNTrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26)+1.940s3/6298k19Jack MillerAUSPramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)+2.196s2/6292k20Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+2.238s2/6291k21Cal CrutchlowGBRCastrol Honda LCR (RC213V)+2.907s5/6293k22Joan MirSPAHonda HRC Castrol (RC213V)+3.069s2/2294k
* Rookie
Official Balaton Park MotoGP Records:
Best lap: Marc Marquez, Ducati, 1m 36.518s (2025)Fastest race lap: Marc Marquez, Ducati, 1m 37.699s (2025)
Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco remain absent due to injuries sustained in Catalunya last month.
Despite retiring at half-distance with a muscle tear in Mugello, Cal Crutchlow is replacing Zarco for a second weekend at LCR Honda, while Gresini has called up WorldSBK rider Iker Lecuona for a Ducati MotoGP debut.
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Lecuona was a full-time MotoGP rider with Tech3 KTM in 2020 and 2021, taking a best result of sixth, but didn’t score during seven replacement MotoGP appearances for Honda.
Unlike Crutchlow, Lecuona knows the Balaton Park circuit from WorldSBK, where he is currently second to Aruba.it Ducati team-mate Nicolo Bulega.
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