#HUNGARIANGP – MOTOGP, SPRINT & RACE – Marquez returns to victory
MOTOGP – SPRINT: Marquez dominant for Sprint Gold at Balaton Park
Cool, calm and gold medal-collected: Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) returned to winning ways in his second weekend back in MotoGP and keeps up his 100% winning record on Hungarian soil. Lights to flag and never looking back, the reigning World Champion held on ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), whilst it was P3 for Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), who extends his lead to 20 overall.
Holeshot from pole, Marquez held position to lead the opening lap ahead of Acosta, whilst Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi had leapfrogged his way from sixth on the grid to P3. Aldeguer was trying hard to move through on the Aprilia rider, hustling and pushing but finding no clear or clean way ahead of the #72. On Lap 2, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) made a mistake under braking as he attempted to pass Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) at Turn 9 but outbraked himself and ran wide – but lost sufficient time so no penalty was necessary.
Still trying to find a way into third, Aldeguer had a big front-end moment at Turn 9 on Lap 3, gathering it all up but dropping to fifth behind Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team). Two laps later at the same corner, Martin tried again on Moreira and this time made it stick, with the 2024 World Champion moving up into sixth. Elsewhere, at the front of the field, Marquez had pulled out a lead of two seconds over Acosta but there was still half of the Sprint to go.
With three laps to go, it was till all to play for over third with Bezzecchi resisting Fernandez so far – even if the Spaniard had been handed a track limits warning. Still trying to salvage something after his Lap 3 moment, Aldeguer was close to Fernandez – too close in the braking zone for Turn 5 as he went wide. Fifth at best for the #54, still a personal-best Sprint of the season.
Dream land, cruise control, a Saturday stroll for Marquez who returned to winning ways with an 18th-career Sprint win, matching Martin for all-time Sprint wins. Acosta managed the Sprint to take home nine World Championship points whilst Bez took his second Sprint podium of the year. A valiant fourth from Fernandez, just 1.2s back from the podium whilst it was a Sprint of ‘what could’ve been’ for Aldeguer who had to settle for fifth.
Martin, Moreira and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) were next up, ‘The Beast’ P8 from P14. The final point went to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), with the double World Champion denying Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P9. Further back, Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) was 11th whilst top Yamaha honours went to Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) in 13th.
MOTOGP – RACE: 100 not out: Marquez clinches milestone win with Balaton masterclass
Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi, and now Marc Marquez. A tonne of talent. A tonne of Grand Prix victories to his name. Finally, after another lengthy injury comeback, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) notched up his 100th win across all classes with a masterclass at Balaton Park. The reigning World Champion completed the weekend triple in style, and while the winning gap over Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was comfortable, the Spaniards treated us to a spellbinding battle on Sunday afternoon. Third place went to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the Italian collects a third P3 trophy on the bounce, while huge drama unfolds at Turn 1 on the opening lap between championship front-runners.
MARTIN, BEZ, DIGGIA, FERNANDEZ & ALDEGUER DOWN
Into the tight Turn 1, Martin was out of shape as the front end of his Aprilia seemed to lock into the braking zone, and subsequently, five riders were down, including fellow Aprilia Racing star and title leader Bezzecchi. The championship leader was first to be collected, and then began the domino effect as Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) were left helpless. All five riders on the floor at Turn 1, with only Di Giannantonio able to get back up and continue.
Both Martin and Bezzecchi headed to the medical centre for a check-up, but thankfully, they were reported to have not sustained any visible fractures. In terms of a penalty, Martin was handed a double Long Lap for his next Grand Prix for the crash.
MM93 vs PA37
Having led, Marquez was then attacked at Turn 5 on Lap 2. This is what Acosta needed to do, as the #37 barged his way through on his compatriot to lead in Hungary. And after a few laps, Acosta stretched his lead to over a second.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) benefited from the Turn 1 mess; the Italian was a relatively lonely P3, with Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) leading a pack 2.6s away from the final podium spot. The Australian had Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR), Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), and Iker Lecuona (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) for close company, as we saw Bastianini and Mir come into contact on the exit of Turn 1.
Mir was almost down twice, and the incident saw Bastianini receive a Long Lap penalty. That fed ‘The Beast’ back out in P11, one place behind Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP).
Up front, Marquez was purring. That Medium rear Michelin had warmed up nicely now, and the margin came down from as high as 1.6s to 0.7s by the start of Lap 10. Fast forward to Lap 13, and the gap was now 0.3s after successive fastest laps of the Grand Prix. Then it was 0.2s on Lap 14.
And on Lap 14, the blue touch paper was lit. Acosta vs Marquez. The battle we’d been waiting for. The #93 attacked at Turn 9, and while it stuck through Turn 10, Acosta cut underneath the reigning World Champion to retake the lead.
Then, Marquez attacked again at Turn 15. Acosta toughed it out around the outside, which became the inside at Turn 16, and the KTM star blocked the attempted overtake from the seven-time MotoGP World Champion.
On the next lap, it was time to launch a bid for the lead at Turn 9 again for Marquez. And this time, despite Acosta’s best efforts, it was a pass that stuck. The lead was Marquez’s on Lap 15 and immediately, the Ducati rider began galloping to a one-second lead.
MM93 PULLS THE PIN
By Lap 20 of 26, the gap crept up to 1.6s and on said lap, Marquez fired home the fastest lap of the race. A 1:38.313, half a second faster than Acosta, and this was a sure sign that Marquez had plenty enough in the tank to earn his 100th Grand Prix victory.
And that’s how it turned out. Thinking of a win pre-weekend? No chance, said Marc Marquez. But Balaton birthed a treble. No win since Misano 2025. A long wait for that 100th Grand Prix triumph. Wait no more. Marquez clinched a first win of the season, Ducati’s 100th, and it’s a win that sends a signal to the rest that the reigning World Champion is back.
Acosta could have done no more. It’s not the win, but the #37 was the only rider to get close to Marquez in Hungary, and it’s a big 20 points in the championship with the top three all either not scoring or picking up little on Sunday, in the case of Di Giannantonio. Bagnaia’s P3 is his third rostrum in a row, another decent Sunday outing for the Italian.
YOUR BALATON POINT SCORERS
Ogura’s late race pace shone through again, the Japanese rider overtaking Marini in the closing stages to earn P4, with the Italian earning an equal-best HRC result in P5.Moreira’s great run of form continues, P6 is the Brazilian rookie’s best MotoGP result to date, and a shoutout to seventh place Lecuona. Standing in for the injured Alex Marquez, a P7 is a phenomenal effort.
Miller ended the Grand Prix in P8, that’s the Aussie’s first top 10 of the year, as Bastianini – after two Long Laps – and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completed the top 10. P11 for Razgatlioglu is the Turk’s best MotoGP result so far, as Di Giannantonio comes back from that Turn 1, Lap 1 incident to collect what could prove to be some very precious points in P12. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), and Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) were the final point scorers in Hungary.
Today I tried to handle the situation as best as I could, and I think we did a good race. Maybe we made the wrong choice with the tyre, going for the medium, as it wasn’t the ideal option. Even so, we managed to finish in a good position and with a consistent pace. I’m proud of the work we’ve done this weekend.
Diogo Moreira – P6
It was a strange race. When I saw the incident at Turn 1, I thought there might be a red flag. But we continued and I was well placed, fighting for a good result. Then I arrived in Turn 1 without any brakes after the bike was shaking coming out of the last corner. I went straight on and when I came back on the racing line, I saw Joan very late. There was some contact and I was given a Long Lap. After I tried to recover but cut the chicane. I lost the position to Toprak (Razgatlioglu) and tried to lose one second, but I probably didn’t. So, I had to do another Long Lap! After that, it was a crazy race, and it was very difficult to overtake the other riders ahead. The grip was lower than yesterday, and the wind changed through the race. When I was alone my lap times were good, and that’s important. I managed to overtake Brad in the last corner for ninth. I’m not happy because I didn’t achieve my full potential today, but we’ll go again in Brno.
Enea Bastianini – P9
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