Marc Márquez won this Sunday (the 13th) the San Marino Grand Prix, the 14th round of the 2026 MotoGP season. The Ducati rider engaged in a strong duel for the lead with Jorge Martín at the start of the race held at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Italy, and then he controlled the closing of his brother, Álex Márquez, to win and take the lead in the championship.
Álex Márquez, on a Gresini Ducati, finished second, followed by Pedro Acosta, who completed the podium with a KTM. Fermín Aldeguer, Álex’s teammate, crossed the line in fourth, while Jorge Martín, now second in the championship on tiebreak criteria, was fifth on an Aprilia.
Raúl Fernández, with a Trackhouse Aprilia, was sixth, finishing ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio, seventh on a VR46 Ducati. Enea Bastianini, with a Tech3 KTM, ended the battle in eighth, while Luca Marini, on a Honda, and Fabio Quartararo, on a Yamaha, completed the top ten.
Marco Bezzecchi, who started from pole on an Aprilia, and Diogo Moreira, the Brazilian LCR Honda rider, crashed and retired from the event held at the Italian circuit.
After the San Marino Grand Prix, Marc Márquez and Jorge Martín are tied on 274 points, with the Ducati rider holding the advantage by the number of wins, five to one. Marco Bezzecchi, also with Aprilia, is third with 241.
The MotoGP continues the 2026 season next weekend with the Austrian Grand Prix, a race scheduled for the Red Bull Ring.
A Look at How the Race Unfolded
The start saw Bezzecchi hold the lead, followed by Márquez and Martín, who moved from fifth to third. Fermín Aldeguer appeared in fourth, followed by Pedro Acosta. Further back, Diogo Moreira climbed to 13th. Still on the first lap, Bezzecchi suffered a heavy crash in Turn 12, taking himself out of the race.
On the second lap, Jack Miller pulled the bike back to the pits and retired, and the race began with Márquez in front, Martín second and Acosta third. On the third lap, Moreira crashed in Turn 4, dropping out while running 12th. On the fourth lap, Álex Márquez and Acosta began dueling for third, with the KTM rider holding the position.
Álex pressed and managed to overtake by the end of the fourth lap, while Martín remained close to Márquez in the battle for the lead. Franco Morbidelli, for his part, served a long-lap penalty and dropped to 16th. The crashes continued and Francesco Bagnaia crashed at the first corner of the circuit on the sixth lap.
On the seventh lap, Martín attacked Márquez and took the lead at Turn 14, the slowest corner on the circuit, while Álex Márquez joined the lead pack a lap later. Joan Mir returned to the pits and retired. In the battle for the lead, Martín opened an eight-tenths of a second advantage over Márquez, who began to be pressured by his brother.
After extending the gap to one second, Martín saw Márquez reel him in and launch an attack to retake the lead on lap 12. Álex Márquez attempted an outside move on the Spanish Aprilia rider but could not complete it. Meanwhile, Acosta, in fourth, began closing in on the leading trio.
Álex passed Martín to take second place, while Márquez opened a 1.1-second lead over his brother by the 15th lap. Acosta started contesting the third place with the Spanish Aprilia rider, making the overtaking a lap later. After seeing the Gresini rider close the gap to less than a second, the current world champion responded, reaching 1.4 seconds ahead.
Álex Rins retired on lap 18 after bringing the Yamaha into the pits. On the track, Aldeguer closed in on Martín at that moment, and the overtaking came two laps later, with the Gresini rider advancing to fourth. In front, Álex again closed in on Marc, in a duel between the Márquez brothers for the race lead.
While Brad Binder passed Johann Zarco to move up to 11th, Álex Márquez finally reached Marc Márquez, and Acosta also began to close the gap to the top two. Aldeguer, in fourth, posted the race’s fastest lap with five laps to go. Martín, in fifth, no longer closed on the rivals.
In the midfield, Fabio Di Giannantonio overtook Luca Marini with three laps remaining, at the same moment Johann Zarco crashed with the LCR Honda. In the battle for the lead, Marc Márquez again opened a half-second gap over his brother, while Acosta could no longer reduce the difference to the leaders.
Márquez went on to win, followed by Álex Márquez and Acosta.
