Marc Marquez won the 2026 MotoGP race at Misano and moved to the top of the championship standings for the first time this season. Marco Bezzecchi’s crash from the lead on the opening lap changed the shape of a 27-lap race that continued to produce changes at the front.

Jorge Martin passed Marquez on lap seven, but Marquez immediately reclaimed the lead. Alex Marquez then moved into second on the Gresini and closed to within half a second of his brother. Martin’s decline continued when Pedro Acosta and Fermin Aldeguer passed him. Those losses ultimately cost Martin the championship lead.

Diogo Moreira and Francesco Bagnaia also crashed. Jack Miller, Joan Mir and Alex Rins retired after returning to the pits, while Johann Zarco was the final retirement. Every rider used the medium compound at both ends of the motorcycle, according to the race report.

The picture before the race

Bezzecchi was fastest in the morning warm-up, finishing 0.376 seconds ahead of Marquez. Aprilia and Gresini both brought special white liveries to Misano. Aprilia’s design drew inspiration from the white racing suit Gilles Villeneuve wore for his 1981 Monaco F1 Grand Prix victory and carried the Piaggio Vespa logo on the sleeve. Gresini ran a replica of Honda MotoGP’s San Carlo livery from 2010 and 2011, associated with Marco Simoncelli.

Marquez had already won the Misano Sprint, reducing Martin’s advantage to 14 points. Before the Grand Prix, Bezzecchi was third in the standings, 22 points behind Martin. Maverick Vinales missed his third consecutive event and was again replaced at Tech3 KTM by test rider Pol Espargaro. Ai Ogura missed his second event because of a hand injury.

Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco also arrived with penalties. Morbidelli had a long-lap penalty for slow riding on the racing line during Friday practice, while Zarco had a three-place grid penalty for the same offence in qualifying. The listed Misano records are a 1m 29.982s best lap by Bezzecchi on an Aprilia in 2026 and a 1m 30.877s fastest race lap by Francesco Bagnaia on a Ducati in 2024. The championship continues at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian MotoGP next weekend.