Marc Marquez mastered tricky conditions to win the MotoGP Tissot Sprint race Saturday afternoon at Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto, in Spain. Riding his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP26 on Michelin control tires, the seven-time and defending World Champion won the 12-lap race by 3.050 seconds.

His teammate, Francesco Bagnaia was the runner-up.

Franco Morbidelli finished third on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP25.

Brad Binder crossed the finish line fourth on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing RC16. 

Morbidelli’s teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio, got fifth.

Marco Bezzecchi, the World Championship point leader coming into the weekend, crashed his Aprilia Racing RS-GP26.

Marco Bezzecchi leads the championship with 81 points, 4 ahead of Jorge Martin who has 77 points. Pedro Acosta is third with 60 points.

More from a press release issued by MotoGP:

Crash, switch, win: Marc Marquez back on top in dramatic flag-to-flag Sprint. The weather plays havoc in Jerez but the home crowd get the result they came for.

We’ve checked the databases and every now and then, the wildest of history does indeed repeat itself – rarely does a rider crash and still come away with victory. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), just when you think he’s won in every kind of scenario, did just that to take Sprint honours at home in Jerez, with teammate Francesco Bagnaia in second – from P10 on the grid – and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) – from P18 on the grid – joining the #93 on the podium. Instead of some poetry about how great it is, this is how it happened.

LIGHTS OUT IN THE SPRINT

Marc Marquez got a great start from pole, with Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) remaining second as the shuffle began behind. Alex Marquez shot up into second place, with Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) in fourth and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in fifth.

Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) got a shocker, seemingly with a tear off under the rear off the line, and plummeted down the order, facing a fight back from P16 as the battle at the front started to heat up. Marc Marquez was starting to build a gap but the chase was on. First, Martin attacked Alex Marquez but the #73 answered back at Turn 1, forcing Martin wide. The #89 sat up and looked down at a red-hot front disc too – having struggled to drop anchor.

THE HEAVENS OPEN

Next, Alex Marquez was past Zarco. And with 10 to go, the grey overcast skies became drops of rain – with the white flag out, denoting riders can change bikes. We’ve seen it before in a Sprint but never so early in the lap count. This time, there was time to make it count – if it rained enough.

At that point however, it clearly wasn’t too damp – with Zarco and Diggia throwing down in an awesome duel for third. As the drops continued though, Diggia was able to get a grip on P3, with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) stalking his way up into fourth.
That left Zarco with his hands full of KTMs. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was first on the chase, with Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) for close company. After Acosta was denied by Zarco, Bastianini was able to profit and slip through – the Beast then on the tail of the Frenchman.

THE FRONT GROUP

Meanwhile at the front, what had been a reasonable gap had been cut and cut until Alex Marquez’s Gresini was absolutely glued to Marc Marquez’s Ducati Lenovo machine in the lead. He shadowed him and looked tempted to make a move, dropped back a little, and then by 6 to go the attack came – the #73 was alongside and through at Turn 9, as Diggia homed in on both.

Drama hit quickly after that. First Marc Marquez slid out at the final corner, just getting it wrong as the rain started to increase. But that would prove absolutely pivotal – with the #93 choosing to then pick it up and dive straight into the pitlane to switch bikes. The rest of the frontrunners continued – with Binder leading the group of those who dived into pitlane too.
That left Alex Marquez at the front leading Diggia, and Binder leading the chase of those who had switched – with only 4 laps to go. Was there enough time?

THE SECOND MARQUEZ CRASH

Suddenly, even more drama – this time for Alex Marquez. The #73 was down at the same corner his brother fell at in last year’s Grand Prix, the rain intensifying from a drizzle to a deluge, and it was suddenly absolutely sure – wets were needed. The rest headed for pitlane and Binder was net leader – until the South African suffered his own off too. As the shuffles continued, it was a red duo of Bagnaia and Marc Marquez thundering towards the race lead, passing a defenceless Fermin Aldeguer as the Gresini rider gambled to stay out on slicks.

THE IMPOSSIBLE… MADE POSSIBLE

Bagnaia led Marc Marquez as the rain came down, but the #93 struck for the lead not long after – from the front to the floor and back to the front. As high as P1 and as low as P17 before somehow finding his way back to the lead, it was a Sprint to remember for the #93 who was back on top ahead of his teammate Bagnaia, who in-turn makes it back-to-back Sprint rostrums whilst unbelievably, having pitted in the first group, Morbidelli came home in third. Binder, despite his crash, still took fourth which on any other day would’ve been thestory. ‘Diggia’ was fifth ahead of Raul Fernandez whilst Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) took Sprint points in seventh. Fellow countryman Zarco and Honda’s Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) were the last of the points finishers.

Check out the full results from the MotoGP Sprint at Jerez!

Breath back, time to go again tomorrow in front of a massive crowd – we’re ready, they’re ready, make sure you’re ready!

Maximo Quiles earned pole position during Moto3 World Championship qualifying Saturday at Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto, in Spain. Riding his CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team KTM on Pirelli control tires, Quiles topped the 26-rider field with a lap time of 1:44.070.

David Muñoz was the best of the rest with a 1:44.445 on his Liqui Moly Dynavolt IntactGP KTM, and Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Alvaro Carpe claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:44.655.

Row-two qualifiers LEVEL UP – MTA’s Joel Esteban (1:44.836), Carpe’s teammate, Brian Uriarte (1:45.049) and Leopard Racing’s Adrian Fernandez  (1:45.049).

More from a press release issued by MotoGP:

Quiles storms to home turf pole in Jerez. The #28 pulls clear of Muñoz and Carpe as home heroes lock out the front row.

Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) slammed in a 1:44.070 to pull an impressive 0.375 clear for pole position in Jerez, with conditions drying out by qualifying for Moto3 and the #28 proving unstoppable.

David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) takes second as he returns from injury an immediately makes a mark, with Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completing the top three and front row.

After wet conditions on Saturday morning, the lightweight class were able to enjoy a fully dry Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto, although the laptimes are split by some bigger gaps than usually seen in Moto3 as the field adapted. Quiles’ 1:44.070 is closer to the lap record – a 1:43.710 – than Muñoz is to the polesitter, and Carpe takes the front row by just over half a second off pole.

Row 2 is more home crowd heroes as Joel Esteban (LEVELUP- MTA) takes P4 ahead of rookie Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) sixth – on exactly the same best laptime as Uriarte. Despite racing two different machines, both set a 1:45.049. Fernandez also crashed in Q2, losing the chance to improve further.

Joal Kelso (GRYD – MLav Racing), David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Matteo Bertelle (LEVELUP – MTA) are on Row 3, with Malaysian Hakim Danish completing the top ten for AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI.

Check out full results from Moto3 qualifying at Jerez and tune in on Sunday for the race from 11:00 (GMT +2).

Marc Marquez mastered tricky conditions to claim pole position during MotoGP qualifying Saturday at Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto, in Spain. Riding his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP26 on the 2.75-mile (4.42 km) track, Marquez turned a 1:48.087 to top the 23-rider field.

Johann Zarco was the best of the rest with a 1:48.227 on his Castrol Honda LCR RC213V, and Fabio Di Giananntonio claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:49.097 on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP26.

Row-two qualifiers included Aprilia Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi (1:49.115), BK8 Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez (1:49.146) and Red Bull KTM Factory’s Pedro Acosta (1:49.230).

More from a press release issued by MotoGP:

Marc Marquez denies Zarco in damp pole shootout. The Spanish GP’s qualifying session was a tasty affair but it gave the home crowd what they wanted as the #93 took a first pole of the year.

Making his mark on home turf, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) was able to bag a first pole of the 2026 season in what was a classic head-to-head battle for qualifying supremacy. Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) will line up in the middle of the front row despite a heroic effort whilst top Ducati in the standings Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) completes the front row.

It was damp conditions as Q1 got underway at Jerez and instantly, it caught out big names. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was an early crasher before he was joined by Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) who wasn’t able to set a lap time and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), the latter just missing the cut. With a good feel for the conditions, Zarco and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) graduated to join the Q2 pole battle and had the experience – and perhaps the advantage – of understanding the latest of the tricky conditions.

After a small delay to the session due to track conditions following Morbidelli’s smoking Ducati at the end of Q1, the riders hit the track, all out on wet tyres but a dry line was appearing. Halfway into the session and it was Marc Marquez who was leading the way but the same joy wasn’t reached for his brother Alex, who crashed at Turn 9 with seven minutes on the clock. Provisionally joining the #93 on the front row, whilst Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) was third but crashed at Turn 1 and was soon bumped down the order by a flying Zarco who went into P1.

Looking to take Honda’s first pole since 2023, Zarco’s hopes of a first pole in 4 years were dashed when Marc Marquez pulled out a mighty lap time to take a first pole position since the Hungarian GP last year. Zarco was pushing hard on the final lap but had to settle for P2 after a mistake in the final corner saw the Frenchman nearly lose the front. Rounding out the front row, Di Giannantonio, who despite being more than a second off, managed to sneak ahead of Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) who heads up the second row, ahead of Alex Marquez and Acosta.

A crash left Martin in the gravel and unable to improve on his lap time, rooting him to seventh and the third row, joined by Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) who also fell, this time at Turn 8, and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), the third of the Aprilias. More qualifying struggles left double World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) on the fourth row in P10, ahead of Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) who suffered a second crash of the day – this time at Turn 8, having fallen at Turn 13 in FP2.

With the grid set, attention turns to the Tissot Sprint! Lights out at 15:00 Local Time (UTC +2), don’t miss it!