Bezzecchi blitzes MotoGP opener, Marquez survives 180 km/h scare

Marco Bezzecchi during the MotoGP at Thailand's Buriram International Circuit.

Bezzecchi went lights to flag in the 26-lapper, beating KTM rider Pedro Acosta by five seconds.

In doing so, he became the first Aprilia rider to win three straight grands prix for the Italian manufacturer.

With a win in Saturday’s sprint and second in Sunday’s grand prix, Acosta assumed the lead of the riders’ championship.

So dominant was Aprilia that its bikes occupied four of the top five positions. Raul Fernandez was third for Trackhouse, Jorge Martin fourth, and Ai Ogura fifth on the other Trackhouse bike.

At the start of the race, Fernandez passed last year’s champion Marc Marquez and left him to battle with Aprilia’s Jorge Martin.

Martin looked like he might have Marquez’s number at the end of Lap 1, but it wasn’t until Lap 4 that he completed the pass for third.

It didn’t take long for Acosta to get by Marquez and in less than 10 laps the Spaniard had fallen from his second place starting spot to fifth.

Marquez dropped back to fifth and left Martin and Acosta to war over the final podium place.

Marc vs Martin vs Pedro ⚔️

📺 Watch the #ThaiGP on ch. 506 or on @kayosports https://t.co/rXET2U5XYU#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/NNcY24rXpO

— Fox Motorsport (@Fox_Motorsport) March 1, 2026

On Lap 10, Martin and Acosta were so preoccupied with each other that Marquez passed them both on the straight from Turn 3 to Turn 4.

Marquez’s third place was short-lived, however. Acosta returned serve at Turn 8 to take the place back.

The race settled into a rhythm before coming back to life in the final stanza.

WHAT ON EARTH?!?!?!? How does that happen?!?!?!

📺 Watch the #ThaiGP on ch. 506 or on @kayosports https://t.co/rXET2U5XYU#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/zhf1pSHH6i

— Fox Motorsport (@Fox_Motorsport) March 1, 2026

There were dramatic scenes on Lap 21 when Marquez’s wheel appeared to buckle and his tyre punctured, which nearly threw him off his bike at Turn 4 at 180 km/h.

Marquez’s brother Alex crashed a lap later on his Gresini-run Ducati Desmosedici at Turn 4.

Fernandez had been resilient in second for the lion’s share of the race, but began to fade and with four laps to go lost second place to Acosta at Turn 3.

Joan Mir was the second rider to suffer a tyre issue, and the Honda rider was forced to slow and DNF.

In the end, Bezzecchi clinched victory by 5.543s over Acosta while Fernandez was third and 9.259s in arrears.

Australia’s Jack Miller was 18th behind Pramac Yamaha teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Acosta leads the championship with 32 points ahead of Bezzecchi on 25 points. Third is Fernandez on 23 points.

MotoGP returns on March 20-22 in Brazil at Goiania.

Results: MotoGP Grand Prix of Thailand, Buriram International Circuit