Podcast: Why MotoGP’s stewards got controversial sprint clash call right

The 2026 MotoGP season kicked off last weekend with the Thai Grand Prix, as Aprilia stole the show with a dominant win.

After a strong pre-season, Aprilia fulfilled its testing promises by snatching pole with Marco Bezzecchi and easing to victory in the 26-lap grand prix.

Bezzecchi becomes the first Aprilia rider in history to win three races in a row, following his back-to-back Portugal/Valencia successes at the end of last season.

He was denied the chance to make it a clean sweep at Buriram by a crash while leading during the sprint, though he didn’t let that trip him up again on Sunday.

Aprilia occupied four of the top five positions, with Raul Fernandez third, Jorge Martin an impressive fourth despite his limited testing time, and Ai Ogura fifth after a fightback from a sluggish start.

It contrasted Ducati’s fortunes, as the pace it showed at the Buriram test seemingly vanished during the grand prix weekend.

Marc Marquez was its leading light, finishing second in the sprint and on course for a podium in the grand prix before a luckless wheel failure late on ended his charge.

Top Ducati went to Fabio Di Giannantonio, though he was over 15 seconds off the race lead in sixth.

Pedro Acosta’s maiden sprint win and a second in the grand prix mean he leads the championship for the first time in his MotoGP career, as KTM gets off to a much stronger start than it did this time 12 months ago.

But the weekend conversation was dominated by the controversial finish to the sprint, as Marquez and Acosta engaged in a heated battle.

Marquez made an aggressive overtake on Acosta at the last corner on the penultimate lap, which resulted in a small nudge and forced the KTM rider off the circuit.

The FIM stewards ordered Marquez to drop one position as punishment, though he didn’t do so until the final corner.

He was upset by the penalty, while Ducati branded it “unfair”. And the decision ultimately split opinion on social media.

Dre Harrison, Lewis Duncan and Peter McLaren discuss the incident at length in the latest Crash MotoGP Podcast.

The team also review the Thai Grand Prix, Aprilia’s strong start, Ducati’s troubles and the misery that was Yamaha’s start to the campaign.