Marco Bezzecchi rebounds to win, tyre drama for Marc Marquez

March 1, 2026

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Marco Bezzecchi dominated the Thailand Grand Prix from begin to end to say an emphatic MotoGP victory for Aprilia, whereas Ducati didn’t log a podium for the primary time in 5 years.

Having crashed out of the lead in Saturday’s dash, Bezzecchi didn’t put a foot fallacious in the primary race as he led each single lap en path to a 5.5s victory.

This was the Italian’s seventh profession victory in MotoGP, and third in a row; he had additionally triumphed within the last two races of the 2025 season.

When the opening spherical of the 2026 season received beneath means, Bezzecchi made an ideal launch from pole place on his manufacturing unit Aprilia, whereas Trackhouse rider Fernandez swept previous Marc Marquez at Turn 7 to place two RS-GPs on the entrance.

Bezzecchi and Fernandez instantly started to clear within the opening section of the race, benefitting from an intense battle for third between Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin and Pedro Acosta.

Reigning champion Marquez initially appeared to battle for rhythm and misplaced locations to each Martin and Acosta in fast succession on lap 4. But as Martin and dash winner Acosta fought for place, Marquez pressured his means again into rivalry and even repassed each on lap 10 with a double transfer into Turn 4.

However, Acosta had the strongest tempo of the trio, and shortly reclaimed third with a decisive transfer over Marquez at Turn 8.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP through Getty Images

But by this level, the main two riders had checked out on the entrance, with Bezzecchi main the race by two seconds and Fernandez having a buffer of three seconds over Acosta.

While Saturday’s half-distance race went down the wire, the grand prix was determined comparatively early, with neither Fernandez nor Acosta placing collectively a late problem on Bezzecchi.

Fernandez appeared on target to complete second however started to lose tempo with seven laps to run, opening the door for Acosta to say the runner-up spot.

The Trackhouse rider may have dropped out of the rostrum struggle solely however Marquez suffered a spectacular rear tyre puncture whereas operating him in fourth, forcing the Ducati rider into retirement.

Marquez was following Fernandez and Acosta into the high-speed Turn 6 when the rear tyre on his GP26 immediately delaminated and got here off the rim, ending his race on the spot.

With the reigning world champion out, Fernandez held on to the ultimate spot on the rostrum, regardless of clearly scuffling with a bodily concern that had additionally troubled him throughout Sunday morning’s warm-up.

Martin picked up a stable haul of factors in fourth, whereas Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura produced an unimaginable restoration after dropping exterior the highest 10 to place all Aprilias inside the highest 5.

The best-placed Ducati was Fabio di Giannantonio in sixth, the VR46 rider beating KTM’s Brad Binder and team-mate Franco Morbidelli. The end result ended Ducati’s streak of podiums stretching again to the 2021 British GP.