Race report
MotoGP Spanish GP
MotoGP Spanish GP: Alex Marquez ends Aprilia’s winning streak
Alex Marquez dominates at Jerez a year on from his maiden win, but it was a bittersweet day for Ducati as Marc Marquez crashes again
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Apr 26, 2026, 10:04 PM
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Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Alex Marquez claimed Ducati’s first MotoGP victory of 2026 at the Spanish Grand Prix, but the Italian marque’s factory team suffered a double retirement.
Having struggled to fight at the front in the opening flyaway races, the younger Marquez bounced back in style at Jerez, claiming a dominant win from fifth on the grid.
The result followed exactly a year after his maiden MotoGP victory at the same venue, and almost six months after he scored Ducati’s last victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Jose Breton - Pics Action - NurPhoto - Getty Images
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi had to settle for second after winning the last five grands prix in a row, while Fabio di Giannantonio completed the podium positions for VR46.
At the start of the race, Marc Marquez made a clean start from pole position to grab the holeshot into Turn 1. But he immediately found himself under pressure from Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez, who both made rapid getaways from the second row to slot directly behind him.
Alex Marquez appeared the quickest of the trio and wasted no time to pass Bezzecchi, before piling in pressure on his elder brother.
Closing the gap at the start of lap 2, the Gresini rider made the decisive move into Turn 6, sending his bike up the inside to storm into the lead.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Jorge Guerrero - AFP - Getty Images
With Alex Marquez having been the fastest rider all weekend in dry conditions, a counter attack was always unlikely, but Marc Marquez threw it all away at Turn 11, losing the front of his factory Ducati.
With the reigning world champion out, Bezzecchi emerged as Alex Marquez’s closest challenger, with Jorge Martin following the pair in third after making a rocketing start from 10th on the grid.
But di Giannantonio soon joined the battle, snatching third from Martin on lap 4 before reeling in Bezzecchi. The Aprilia rider managed to respond to di Giannantonio’s pace to maintain the status quo, but their battle allowed Marquez to run away at the front.
By half-distance, the Spaniard was circulating two seconds in front - and he went on to take the chequered flag by the same margin to claim his fourth career win in the premier class.
While Bezzecchi’s winning run came to an end due to Marquez’s dominant performance, a second-place finish allowed him to consolidate his lead at the top of the standings.
Meanwhile, di Giannantonio finished a strong third to claim his second Sunday podium in four races, with Martin banking a solid haul of points in fourth.
Trackhouse duo Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez came from lower regions of the top 12 to climb to fifth and sixth respectively, both passing the LCR Honda of Johann Zarco late in the race. Seventh-place, however, still marked Honda’s best finish of the year.
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Photo by: Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP via Getty Images
Tech3’s Enea Bastianini emerged as the highest-placed KTM rider at Jerez after outduelling the factory’s star rider Pedro Acosta, who eventually slipped to 10th behind Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer.
Francesco Bagnaia was running ahead of Acosta in ninth when he suddenly slowed down on lap 13 with what appeared to be a loss of power. The two-time MotoGP champion brought the bike back to the pits, marking a double retirement for the factory Ducati Team following Marquez’s crash earlier in the race.
Bagnaia’s retirement elevated Brad Binder (KTM) and Franco Morbidelli (VR46) to 11th and 12th, while Luca Marini recovered to 13th on the factory Honda after a poor opening lap left him down in 18th.
Marini’s team-mate Joan Mir also mounted a strong comeback after serving two long lap penalties for an FP2 infringement, finishing right behind the top Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo in 15th.
Aprilia’s wildcard Lorenzo Savadori joined Bagnaia and Marc Marquez in the list of retirees.
MotoGP Spanish GP - Race results
All Stats
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points 1 A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73
Ducati 25
40'48.861
162.5 25 2 M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team 72
Aprilia 25
+1.903
40'50.764
1.903 162.4 20 3 F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49
Ducati 25
+5.796
40'54.657
3.893 162.1 16 4 J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team 89
Aprilia 25
+9.229
40'58.090
3.433 161.9 13 5 A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team 79
Aprilia 25
+9.891
40'58.752
0.662 161.8 11 6 R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25
Aprilia 25
+10.614
40'59.475
0.723 161.8 10 7 J. Zarco Team LCR 5
Honda 25
+13.039
41'01.900
2.425 161.6 9 8 E. Bastianini Tech 3 23
KTM 25
+14.411
41'03.272
1.372 161.6 8 9 F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing 54
Ducati 25
+19.778
41'08.639
5.367 161.2 7 10 P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 37
KTM 25
+22.431
41'11.292
2.653 161.0 6 11 B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33
KTM 25
+22.799
41'11.660
0.368 161.0 5 12 F. Morbidelli Team VR46 21
Ducati 25
+24.867
41'13.728
2.068 160.9 4 13 L. Marini Honda HRC 10
Honda 25
+26.871
41'15.732
2.004 160.7 3 14 F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20
Yamaha 25
+29.532
41'18.393
2.661 160.6 2 15 J. Mir Honda HRC 36
Honda 25
+29.899
41'18.760
0.367 160.5 1 16 A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42
Yamaha 25
+32.921
41'21.782
3.022 160.3 17 D. Moreira Team LCR 11
Honda 25
+36.656
41'25.517
3.735 160.1 18 J. Miller Pramac Racing 43
Yamaha 25
+37.577
41'26.438
0.921 160.0 19 T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing 7
Yamaha 25
+44.557
41'33.418
6.980 159.6 20 A. Fernandez Yamaha Factory Racing 47
Yamaha 25
+1'05.023
41'53.884
20.466 158.3 dnf F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 63
Ducati 12
+13 Laps
19'46.054
13 Laps 161.1 Retirement dnf L. Savadori Aprilia Racing Team 32
Aprilia 6
+19 Laps
10'01.629
6 Laps 158.7 Retirement dnf M. Marquez Ducati Team 93
Ducati 1
+24 Laps
1'41.857
5 Laps 156.3 Accident View full results
Photos from Spanish GP - Sunday
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
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Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
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Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
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Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
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Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
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Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
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Spanish GP - Sunday, in Photos
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