Italian Marco Bezzecchi won the Thailand GP this Sunday (1), a race held at the Buriram circuit. The Aprilia rider recovered from a crash in the previous day’s Sprint and, starting from pole position, never had his first position threatened by opponents, taking first place after 26 laps in the race that opened the 2026 season of the world’s premier motorcycle racing championship.
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Second place went to Pedro Acosta, winner of the Sprint, who fought a hard race to finish only behind Bezzecchi. The KTM rider was followed by Raúl Fernández, who completed the podium with a third-place finish on a Trackhouse Aprilia. Jorge Martín, with the other official Aprilia, finished fourth, while Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura rounded out the top 5 after climbing through the field in the second half of the race.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, on a VR46 Ducati, crossed the finish line in sixth position, followed by Brad Binder, seventh on a KTM. Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia finished eighth, followed by Franco Morbidelli, ninth on the VR46. The top ten list was completed by Honda’s Luca Marini.
The race was marked by the retirement of Marc Márquez. The Ducati rider was unable to fight for the lead and engaged in a good battle for third place in the first half of the race. While trying to close in on Acosta in the final laps, a run-off caused a puncture, forcing the reigning world champion to retire from the race.
The first Brazilian on the MotoGP grid in more than two decades, Diogo Moreira completed his debut in 13th position. The LCR rider, a Honda satellite team, started from 15th place and was always in the points zone. In the final laps, he managed to move up to 12th place, but dropped one position and scored his first three points in the premier class of the World Motorcycle Championship.
MotoGP continues the 2026 season on March 20, 21, and 22, with the Brazilian GP, a race scheduled for the Ayrton Senna International Circuit in Goiânia (GO).
Check out how the race went
The race in Buriram began with Marco Bezzecchi maintaining first position, followed by Marc Márquez and Raúl Fernández. Jorge Martín and Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top five list at the start of the race. Diogo Moreira, in his first main MotoGP race, gained a position in the opening meters and moved up to 14th place.
Still on the first lap, Márquez was overtaken by Fernández and had his third place threatened by Martín. Saturday’s Sprint winner, Pedro Acosta, began attacking Di Giannantonio for fifth place on the third lap of the race, making the overtake at turn 12, the last one of the Buriram circuit.
Martín overtook Márquez on the fourth lap of the race and surpassed the reigning world champion, taking third place. On the same lap, it was Acosta’s turn to pass the number 93 Ducati rider, who dropped to fifth place. Up front, Bezzecchi had a 1.3-second lead over Fernández, who was also not threatened by Martín.
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Yamaha drew negative attention, with Fabio Quartararo only in 15th position on the seventh lap, far from Moreira, his closest rival. In the front pack, Martín’s third position came under threat from Acosta, while he also saw Fernández pull away. The attack came on the ninth lap, but the KTM rider saw his opponent fight back on two occasions.
Acosta managed to overtake Martín, but saw Márquez close in and pass both on the tenth lap, reclaiming third place. Meters later, the owner of the number 37 KTM retook third position, although the Ducati rival continued to press. In the mid-field, Joan Mir, on a Honda, began attacking Di Giannantonio in a battle for sixth place.
On the 13th lap, which completed the first half of the race, Bezzecchi pulled out a 2.1-second lead over Fernández, who took advantage of the battle for third place to open a gap to Acosta, Márquez, and Martín, who completed the top five. In the back pack, Moreira maintained 14th position, always behind Johann Zarco.
Acosta began to close in rapidly on Fernández, cutting the gap to less than two seconds on lap 16. The Trackhouse rider also couldn’t keep up with Bezzecchi’s pace, the leader who extended his advantage to three seconds on the same lap. Further back, Franco Morbidelli passed Moreira, who dropped to 15th position.
With 19 laps completed, Ai Ogura moved up to ninth place, overtaking Francesco Bagnaia, who was having a discreet race. A little further ahead, Mir overtook Di Giannantonio on the 20th lap, taking sixth place. In the lead, Bezzecchi reached a 4.5-second advantage over Fernández, who came under pressure from Acosta with six laps remaining in the race.
Ogura moved up to eighth position by overtaking Álex Márquez. Meanwhile, Marc Márquez retired from the race on lap 21 with a flat tire on his Ducati after running off the track. On the following lap, it was Álex Márquez’s turn to crash, leaving the race. With four laps to go, Acosta overtook Fernández, taking second place.
Mir, who was having a good race, had problems with his bike and plummeted down the standings, which favored Moreira, who was 12th with three laps to go. Ogura was another who took advantage and moved up to fifth position by passing Di Giannantonio. Further back, Diogo Moreira was overtaken by Enea Bastianini and dropped to 13th.
Unthreatened, Bezzecchi went on to take the checkered flag in first position. Acosta finished second, followed by Fernández. Moreira finished his first MotoGP race in 13th position.
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