MotoGP Sprint Spielberg: Debacle for Pedro Acosta – Martin new World Championship leader

In qualifying, the top four – Jorge Martin (Aprilia), Marc Marquez (Ducati), Pedro Acosta (KTM) and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) – were several tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the field, and this quartet also made history in the sprint in the green heart of Austria.

When the lights went out and the riders sprinted towards the first corner, it was Martin who took the lead ahead of Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi and Acosta, but already at the following chicane, Marc braked on the inside to pass Martin, causing the Aprilia rider to run wide and drop back to fifth place. One corner later, Acosta took the lead because Marquez missed the apex!

After a very turbulent opening phase, the action settled down; after three laps, Acosta led by a good second ahead of Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez, Ai Ogura, Martin and Pecco Bagnaia.

On lap 5, Raul Fernandez and Diogo Moreira were handed two long laps for jumping the start.

Acosta was setting a significantly faster pace than the rest of the field and was pulling further and further away from his pursuers, Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi and Martin.

Topic of the week

Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring: track – hit or miss?

The people of Madrid had set their sights high for their city’s first Formula 1 World Championship race since 1981. But have the high expectations for the new Madring mixed-circuit track really been met?

Mathias Brunner

Read More

TV Program

Tomorrow

Red Bull Ring: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

20.09.2026 - 08:45

On lap 7 of 14, Martin overtook his team-mate Bezzecchi to move into third place – and so the chase for Marc Marquez was on! Going into Turn 1, Martin gave Marquez a taste of his own medicine, braking on the inside to pass his compatriot and sending the seven-time MotoGP champion off the track.

With this manoeuvre, Martin took the lead in the World Championship; ahead of the sprint, he was 273 points clear of Marc Marquez. However, Martin was no match for Acosta – the KTM ace was over half a second faster than the second-fastest rider in the field on the ninth lap!

In lap 11, disaster struck for KTM: Acosta, leading by 2.5 seconds, crashed after entering the chicane far too fast. This left Martin in the lead ahead of Marc Marquez and Bezzecchi.

The top three remained unchanged until the chequered flag fell, with the remaining points-scoring positions going to Ogura, Alex Márquez, Bagnaia, Zarco, Aldeguer and Binder.

With his 20th sprint victory, Jorge Martin took the lead in the World Championship; he is now three points ahead of Marc Marquez.