Race report

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

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
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