Jorge Martín won the Sprint race of the Austrian GP on Saturday (19), the 15th round of the 2026 MotoGP season, held at the Red Bull Ring. The Aprilia rider started from pole position, dropped to seventh place in the opening meters, but recovered and saw Pedro Acosta, who led the entire race, crash with three laps remaining out of the 14, securing the victory.
Read more Check the MotoGP championship standings after the Austrian GP Sprint
Second place went to Marc Márquez, who struggled with the Ducati’s pace throughout the race, finishing just under a second behind Martín. Marco Bezzecchi, with the other official Aprilia, was third, followed by Ai Ogura, fourth with a Trackhouse Aprilia. The top five group also included Álex Márquez, with a Gresini Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia finished sixth with Ducati, with Johann Zarco of LCR Honda in seventh. Fermín Aldeguer, with a Gresini Ducati, crossed the line in eighth, while Brad Binder, with KTM, completed the points zone in ninth place. The top 10 also included Fabio Di Giannantonio, with a VR46 Ducati.
Diogo Moreira had a tough morning on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring. Starting from 16th place, the LCR Honda rider was penalized with a double long lap penalty for jump start and finished the race in the same position he started, outside the points zone.
With the Sprint result, Martín retakes the sole lead of the championship with 286 points, against 283 for Márquez, the second-placed rider. Bezzecchi is third with 248, followed by Di Giannantonio, fourth with 223. Ogura and Acosta close the top 5, both with 209 points. Moreira is 14th with 64 points.
The MotoGP Austrian GP will be held this Sunday (20), starting at 9 a.m.
Check out how the race went
The race started with Jorge Martín maintaining first position in the opening meters, but being overtaken by Marc Márquez shortly after. However, both were soon overtaken by Pedro Acosta, who took the lead, followed by the Spanish Ducati rider and Marco Bezzecchi. Ai Ogura and Francesco Bagnaia closed the top 5, with Martín dropping to seventh place. Diogo Moreira finished the first lap in 15th.
Read more F1: Mercedes reveals use of ‘secret codes’ with drivers during races
Acosta pulled away by eight tenths on the second lap, while Martín was warned for track limits. The Aprilia rider, however, began advancing through the pack by overtaking Bagnaia and Ogura, who had been passed by Álex Márquez moments before, returning to the top 5. Raúl Fernández and Diogo Moreira were penalized with a double long lap for jump start.
On the fifth lap, Martín overtook Álex Márquez and moved up to fourth place. Ogura, in turn, was penalized with a long lap for track limits. Up front, Acosta continued to extend his lead over Márquez, reaching 1.8 seconds ahead on lap 6. Additionally, the Ducati rider began to be pressured by Bezzecchi and Martín, who overtook his teammate at the start of lap seven.
Martín launched an attack on Márquez, managing to overtake at the start of lap eight, moving up to second place, 2.5 seconds behind Acosta, the race leader. The current champion, in turn, was pressured by Bezzecchi in a battle for third place. With four laps to go, Ogura overtook Álex Márquez and took fifth position.
On lap 11, Franco Morbidelli crashed with the VR46 Ducati at turn 2, abandoning the short weekend race. On the following lap, Acosta crashed at turn 2, when he had a 2.4-second lead over the second-placed rider. Martín took the lead, holding some advantage over Márquez.
The race reached the final lap and Martín went on to victory, followed by Márquez and Bezzecchi. Moreira finished the race in 17th place.
Read more F1: Verstappen questions Red Bull’s engine advantage over Mercedes’
