- Marc Marquez wins the first MotoGP Sprint in Brazil since the format was introduced
- Fabio Di Giannantonio leads for 12 laps before a mistake at Turn 12 costs him the victory
- Jorge Martin celebrates his first podium on the Aprilia RS-GP
Goiânia, Brazil, March 2026. Brazilian motorsport fans had to wait 22 years for this moment. The last time MotoGP visited Brazil was in 2004 at Rio de Janeiro, when Makoto Tamada won the Grand Prix. Now the premier class took to the Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna in Goiânia for the first time, a short 3.835-kilometre circuit with 14 corners where no MotoGP testing had taken place beforehand. And the weekend immediately delivered a whole series of dramatic moments before Marc Marquez claimed the Sprint on Saturday.
A weekend in a state of emergency
Heavy rain caused flooding on the track on Friday, delaying the schedule by an hour. The first proper dry session only came on Saturday morning in FP2, where Ai Ogura on the Trackhouse Aprilia set the fastest time, smashing Johann Zarco’s Friday best of 1:21.2 minutes down to 1:18.2 minutes. Within that half hour, the top 20 were covered by just one second, showing how competitive it was on the new circuit.
Qualifying was nothing short of dramatic. Five riders crashed in Q2, starting with Francesco Bagnaia who put his factory Ducati into the gravel in the opening minutes, heavily damaging the bike. Pedro Acosta followed at Turn 4, the corner that proved the most dangerous all weekend. Shortly after, Marc Marquez also went down at the exact same spot, as did Jorge Martin and eventually pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio. Di Giannantonio had already set his fastest time before crashing, securing just his second MotoGP pole position with a 1:17.410, only 0.070 seconds ahead of Marco Bezzecchi. Marquez completed the front row 0.081 seconds behind. Fabio Quartararo delivered a real surprise in fourth on the new V4 Yamaha, while Acosta could only manage ninth and Bagnaia had to start from eleventh in the midfield.
As if all that wasn’t enough, a sinkhole opened up on the start-finish straight after qualifying. Days of heavy rain had softened the ground, apparently in connection with a burst drainage pipe. Workers were standing waist-deep in a hole in the middle of the main straight. FIM Safety Officer Tomé Alfonso described it as “a depression in the track surface caused by soil movement”. Following a crisis meeting between team bosses and organisers, the Sprint was delayed by a total of 80 minutes, with the start pushed to 4:20 PM local time instead of the planned 3:00 PM. Moto2 qualifying was moved entirely to Sunday morning.
Di Giannantonio breaks away
Tyre choice added extra intrigue. All riders opted for the hard front tyre. At the rear, the majority chose the soft, while Bagnaia, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Raúl Fernández and Jack Miller went with the medium. Marc Marquez had originally also fitted the medium rear but switched to the soft shortly before the start. The only rider outside the top starters to stay on the medium was Fernández from grid position 16.
When the lights went out, Di Giannantonio made a perfect start and led into Turn 1. Behind him, Quartararo moved up to second and pushed Marquez back to third. Bezzecchi dropped to fourth, Martin to fifth. For Fermín Aldeguer, making his 2026 season debut after missing the entire pre-season and the Thai GP due to a femur fracture sustained in winter training, the opening lap ended in disaster. His rear tyre spun up off the line and he dropped from seventh to 20th.
Joan Mir crashed at Turn 6 on the second lap after being pushed off line by Raúl Fernández. Marquez quickly dispatched Quartararo on the straight before Turn 1 at the start of lap three. Di Giannantonio already had a 0.7-second lead by then and continued to build his advantage lap after lap, setting fastest times in the 1:18.1 range.
Aprilia vs Aprilia for third place
While Di Giannantonio pulled away at the front, a fierce battle raged behind. Quartararo on the Yamaha defended his position for a long time with late braking moves, but misjudged Turn 4 on lap four and was overtaken by Bezzecchi. Martin immediately seized the opportunity and also passed the Frenchman on the run to the line.
On lap 6, Bezzecchi made an error at Turn 9 and Martin moved up to third. It marked the beginning of an Aprilia-internal duel that would last for the remainder of the Sprint. Bezzecchi recovered but could never find a way past his teammate. Martin controlled the gap confidently and crossed the finish line 3.587 seconds behind Marquez in third. For the 2024 World Champion, it was his very first podium on the Aprilia RS-GP.
Martin’s tears after the long road back
What the bare numbers don’t show: for Jorge Martin, this third place meant far more than just a Sprint podium. The Spaniard endured a nightmare 2025 season, marred by a serious injury that confined him to a hospital bed for months. At times he could barely stand, let alone ride a MotoGP bike. His last podium had come at the Solidarity Grand Prix in Barcelona at the end of 2024, the very weekend he was crowned World Champion.
After crossing the line, Martin was overcome with emotion. He pulled a big wheelie and pounded the tank of his Aprilia in joy. “I’m really, really happy. Thanks to all the people that helped me to arrive here. It’s been a tough journey,” he said visibly moved. “Two months ago I was in hospital, and my girlfriend was with me. And now I’m here. I hope we continue improving.”
Marquez hunts down Di Giannantonio
Back to the battle at the front. Di Giannantonio had built a lead of up to 1.4 seconds, but from lap 7 Marquez began chipping away at the deficit piece by piece. The reigning World Champion found his rhythm and consistently lapped in the 1:18.4 range, while Di Giannantonio’s pace slightly dropped. By lap 8 the gap was down to 0.5 seconds, and by lap 11 just 0.3.
During this phase, Johann Zarco also crashed out at the penultimate corner, and Maverick Viñales went down as well. Three riders retired from the Sprint in total.
The decisive moment came on lap 13 of 15. Di Giannantonio ran slightly wide at Turn 12, losing momentum on the run to the start-finish straight, and Marquez pounced ruthlessly. He got better drive out of the corner and took the lead before Turn 13. “Today it was different compared to this morning in Q2. There was less grip in the corners, and in the same corner I made two mistakes that ruined my chances,” Di Giannantonio analysed calmly after the race.
Marquez defends with authority
Over the final two laps, Di Giannantonio tried everything to fight back. But Marquez, as so often in his career a master of defending under pressure, left no gap. On the last lap he positioned himself in the middle of the track through every corner and gave the VR46 rider no chance to attack. In the end, Marquez crossed the line with a margin of 0.213 seconds. Both set identical times of 1:18.619 on their final lap, showing just how close it was between them.
It was Marquez’s 16th career Sprint win, drawing him level with Jorge Martin on the all-time Sprint winners list. Above all, it was his first victory since last year’s shoulder injury. “It’s an important victory, a super important victory,” said Marquez. “At the beginning of the year we were suffering due to the recovery from the accident last year. We had to work step by step. I’m still not at 100 percent, but I’m riding here with a different conviction. I just keep pushing, that’s the key.”
Quartararo impresses on the V4 Yamaha
Away from the podium, Fabio Quartararo delivered a remarkable performance. The 2021 World Champion qualified fourth, marking the best result for the new V4 Yamaha so far this season. He dropped to sixth in the race but kept in touch with the Aprilia group and held off the significantly faster machinery behind him with his late braking moves for much of the race. The gap of 7.728 seconds was progress by Yamaha’s standards.
Ai Ogura finished fifth as the best Trackhouse rider, delivering a solid result after spending several laps stuck behind Quartararo. Alex Marquez (seventh) and Bagnaia (eighth, on the medium rear tyre) completed the points positions ahead of Pedro Acosta, who just managed to pick up a single championship point in ninth. Home hero Diogo Moreira rounded out the top ten as the best Honda finisher.
KTM in crisis
It was a catastrophic day for KTM. While Acosta at least scored in ninth, the other three RC16 riders were completely off the pace. Brad Binder finished 15th, Enea Bastianini 17th, and Maverick Viñales crashed out. In qualifying, all three KTMs apart from Acosta had occupied the last grid positions.
Championship standings remain tight
Pedro Acosta retains the championship lead despite the meagre result, though only by two points over Marco Bezzecchi. Jorge Martin climbed to third thanks to his podium. Marc Marquez moved up to sixth in the overall standings with his victory. Sunday’s 31-lap Grand Prix awaits, where double the distance will present entirely different challenges in terms of tyre management and energy conservation.
➜ This article is part of our comprehensive overview: 2026 MotoGP Season: The Complete Overview – Teams, Riders, Calendar & Championship Standings. Find all key information on this topic in one place.
