2026 Thai MotoGP, Buriram - Sprint Race Results
Sprint race results from the 2026 Thai MotoGP at Buriram, round 1 of 22.
Pedro Acosta takes a controversial debut Sprint victory in the Thai MotoGP season opener after Marc Marquez was forced to drop one position for a hard pass on the KTM rider at the end of the penultimate lap.
A dramatic victory battle began with pole qualifier and pre-race favourite Marco Bezzecchi crashing out early on, leaving a Marc Marquez-Pedro Acosta duel.
Acosta made several attempts to pass Marquez at the final corner, but always lost out on the exit.
However, a surprise pass in the mid-section saw the younger Spaniard keep the lead - until Marquez launched his Desmosedici up the inside into the final corner.
Acosta was forced wide, rejoining in second but too far back to take his first premier-class win - until the FIM Stewards announced their verdict.
Marquez gave way at the final corner, with no time to re-attack Acosta.
Raul Fernandez was just out of reach of the lead battle for much of the race on his way to third.
Jorge Martin, overtaken for fourth by Ai Ogura in the closing stages, is under investigation for possible low tyre pressure.
Update: Martin has avoided a penalty due to a leaking wheel rim.
Diogo Moreira finished his first premier-class race in 13th. Fellow rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed and rejoined on his way to 20th.
Jack Miller was the leading Yamaha V4 rider, in 15th, just ahead of Fabio Quartararo.
2026 Thai MotoGP, Buriram - Sprint Race Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff |
| 1 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 19m 39.155s |
| 2 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +0.108s |
| 3 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +0.540s |
| 4 | Ai Ogura | JPN | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +2.100s |
| 5 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | +3.851s |
| 6 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +4.612s |
| 7 | Joan Mir | SPA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | +4.924s |
| 8 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26) | +5.748s |
| 9 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +6.910s |
| 10 | Luca Marini | ITA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | +7.796s |
| 11 | Alex Marquez | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26) | +8.504s |
| 12 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V) | +8.577s |
| 13 | Diogo Moreira | BRA | Pro Honda LCR (RC213V)* | +11.970s |
| 14 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) | +12.395s |
| 15 | Jack Miller | AUS | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +13.467s |
| 16 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +15.079s |
| 17 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | +15.452s |
| 18 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +15.876s |
| 19 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | +21.445s |
| 20 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)* | +25.860s |
| 21 | Michele Pirro | ITA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) | +27.892s |
| Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | DNF | |
* Rookie
Qualifying
Marco Bezzecchi takes pole position for the season-opening Thai MotoGP at Buriram despite crashing at the end of Saturday morning's qualifying session.
The factory Aprilia star, quickest in pre-season testing and then every track session he has taken part in so far this weekend, suffered his second accident of the day under braking for the final corner.
But Marco Bezzecchi had already done enough to keep pole by just 0.035s from reigning champion Marc Marquez, who snatched a late second place for Ducati.
Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez made it two Aprilias on the front row, followed by Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), Jorge Martin (Aprilia) and Pedro Acosta (KTM).
Marc Marquez's team-mate, Francesco Bagnaia, failed to progress past Qualifying 1 and will start just 13th on the grid.
2026 Thai MotoGP, Buriram - Full Qualifying Results | ||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max |
| 1 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | 1'28.652s | 3/6 | 345k |
| 2 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +0.035s | 6/8 | 342k |
| 3 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +0.224s | 6/8 | 336k |
| 4 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26) | +0.266s | 6/8 | 340k |
| 5 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | +0.349s | 2/7 | 345k |
| 6 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.409s | 8/8 | 342k |
| 7 | Alex Marquez | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26) | +0.425s | 6/9 | 341k |
| 8 | Ai Ogura | JPN | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +0.559s | 5/8 | 344k |
| 9 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) | +0.669s | 4/4 | 339k |
| 10 | Joan Mir | SPA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | +0.733s | 3/8 | 343k |
| 11 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.750s | 5/7 | 340k |
| 12 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V) | +0.880s | 3/8 | 336k |
| Qualifying 1: | ||||||
| 13 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | 1'29.348s | 3/9 | 342k |
| 14 | Luca Marini | ITA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | 1'29.446s | 3/7 | 339k |
| 15 | Diogo Moreira | BRA | Pro Honda LCR (RC213V)* | 1'29.489s | 3/7 | 341k |
| 16 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1'29.683s | 8/9 | 336k |
| 17 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | 1'29.774s | 7/7 | 336k |
| 18 | Jack Miller | AUS | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1'29.834s | 3/9 | 333k |
| 19 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1'30.067s | 6/9 | 332k |
| 20 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | 1'30.078s | 7/8 | 340k |
| 21 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)* | 1'30.165s | 6/8 | 334k |
| 22 | Michele Pirro | ITA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) | 1'31.361s | 3/8 | 334k |
* Rookie
Official Buriram MotoGP Records:
Best lap: Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia, 1m 28.526s (2026)
Fastest race lap: Marc Marquez, Ducati, 1m 30.637s (2025)
Final Practice
Marco Bezzecchi leads final practice for the 2026 Thai MotoGP at Buriram, despite a fall.
The Friday leader moved straight to the top of the Saturday morning lap times on a new medium rear tyre, but then crashed at the Turn 3 hairpin after ten of the 30 minutes.
Marco Bezzecchi returned on his spare bike soon after, using a soft rear, with his earlier lap time keeping him 0.071s clear of KTM's Pedro Acosta, who started on the medium rear and later switched to a soft.
Alex Marquez, Ai Ogura, Franco Morbidelli and reigning champion Marc Marquez completed the top six, after appearing to favour used softs front and rear throughout.
Qualifying 1, for those outside the top ten on Friday afternoon, including Francesco Bagnaia, will now begin.
2026 Thai MotoGP, Buriram - Saturday Free Practice Results | ||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max |
| ||||||
| 2 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.071s | 5/15 | 338k |
| 3 | Alex Marquez | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26) | +0.174s | 5/15 | 338k |
| 4 | Ai Ogura | JPN | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +0.187s | 14/17 | 342k |
| 5 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) | +0.318s | 9/12 | 339k |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +0.354s | 10/14 | 341k |
| 7 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +0.378s | 11/12 | 335k |
| 8 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | +0.479s | 11/14 | 340k |
| 9 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +0.488s | 11/12 | 342k |
| 10 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26) | +0.565s | 15/15 | 340k |
| 11 | Luca Marini | ITA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | +0.713s | 11/12 | 338k |
| 12 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V) | +0.732s | 6/15 | 340k |
| 13 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.781s | 6/15 | 335k |
| 14 | Diogo Moreira | BRA | Pro Honda LCR (RC213V)* | +0.835s | 9/12 | 336k |
| 15 | Joan Mir | SPA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | +0.883s | 7/12 | 340k |
| 16 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | +0.983s | 11/13 | 338k |
| 17 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | +1.033s | 4/14 | 343k |
| 18 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +1.139s | 7/14 | 339k |
| 19 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)* | +1.453s | 3/12 | 332k |
| 20 | Jack Miller | AUS | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +1.476s | 11/14 | 333k |
| 21 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +1.628s | 10/12 | 333k |
| 22 | Michele Pirro | ITA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) | +2.121s | 11/12 | 334k |
* Rookie
Official Buriram MotoGP Records:
Best lap: Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia, 1m 28.526s (2026)
Fastest race lap: Marc Marquez, Ducati, 1m 30.637s (2025)
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