After nearly three years of trying and a costly Tissot Sprint blunder just 23 hours prior, Pedro Acosta of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing finally banished those demons with a flawless ride to claim his maiden MotoGP victory. And what a place to do it. KTM’s home, Red Bull’s home, serving as a beauty of a farewell gift before a new chapter for both rider and factory awaits in 2027.
At the lights, Aprilia enjoyed a dream getaway as Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, and Ai Ogura of the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team locked out P1 to P3 in that order. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez of the Ducati Lenovo Team lost three positions on the opening lap, allowing Acosta to pounce on his future teammate and grab P4 after a slightly sluggish start. Bezzecchi tried to take the lead from his teammate Martin at Turn 1 on Lap 2, but the polesitter snapped straight back at Turn 3 while Acosta carved past Ogura for third at Turn 6 and chased down Bezzecchi's RS-GP.
On Lap 4, at Turn 2b—the very scene of Acosta's Sprint error—the KTM star struck to take second place. By the end of Lap 7, Martin and Acosta were 1.5s clear of Bezzecchi, who sat half a second ahead of Ogura. The decisive moment for the lead arrived on Lap 9, when Acosta outdrove Martin on the exit of Turn 1 down into Turn 2a to take command of the field for the first time. Further back, Marc Marquez ran sideways and wide into Turn 1 after passing Ogura, dropping to fifth behind Brad Binder of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. A subsequent poor Turn 1 allowed Fermin Aldeguer of BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP past, plunging Marquez down to seventh.
As the race crossed the halfway stage on Lap 16 of 28, Acosta led Martin by 0.7s, with Bezzecchi a second further back in third and Ogura holding fourth. Marc Marquez eventually managed to get back past Aldeguer for fifth on Lap 20, though the gap to Ogura sat at 3.8s. At the front, the chasing Aprilias closed in slightly as Acosta dropped into the 1:31s on Lap 21, but the Spaniard responded with a 1:30.693 on the next lap to stabilize his advantage. With two laps to go, Acosta's lead stood at 1.4s.
When the checkered flag dropped, Acosta brought his RC16 home safely to secure his first-ever Sunday victory in MotoGP, finishing 1.2s ahead of Martin. Martin claimed a crucial second-place finish to extend his title lead to 12 points, while Bezzecchi took the final spot on the podium after finishing just 0.192s behind his Aprilia Racing teammate. Ai Ogura finished a brilliant fourth, just 0.9s away from the rostrum on his return before his home Grand Prix.
Marc Marquez crossed the line in fifth place, 7.3s off the victory, relinquishing the championship lead heading to the venue where he clinched the title a year ago. Brad Binder backed up Acosta's win by claiming his best result of the season in sixth place for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, while Francesco Bagnaia of the Ducati Lenovo Team was the second Ducati home in seventh. Fermin Aldeguer finished eighth after being handed a post-resque three-second penalty for causing contact, and Fabio Di Giannantonio of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team rounded out a quiet weekend in ninth. Johann Zarco of Castrol Honda LCR took tenth, with the remaining points collected by Enea Bastianini of Red Bull KTM Tech3, Raul Fernandez of the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team, Joan Mir's stand-in Takaaki Nakagami of Honda HRC Castrol, Luca Marini of Honda HRC Castrol, and Diogo Moreira of Pro Honda LCR.
