Pedro Acosta Wins the 2026 MotoGP Thailand Sprint Race

JAKARTA - Young racer Pedro Acosta managed to come out as the winner in the 2026 MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix sprint race. He finished the fastest to beat defending champion Marc Marquez who took second place. The 21-year-old rider completed the race at the Chang International Circuit, Buriram, on Saturday, February 28, 2026, with a time of 19 minutes 39.155 seconds, ahead of Marquez by +0.108 seconds in second place. The fight to be the best in this session was hot since the start lights were on. Pole position holder Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) immediately appeared fierce, but he was challenged by Marc Marquez who quickly stole the lead. In the first round there was also an incident involving Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Racing Team). Both names were involved in an incident at Turn 3 so they widened and were eliminated early from the competition. The sprint race stage then featured a show between Marc Marquez leading in front and followed by Bezzecchi. In the heat of the duel, Bezzecchi even fell at Turn 8 while he was ahead so he couldn't continue racing. Bezzecchi's exit from the track automatically opened the door for Acosta who climbed to second place and emerged as a challenger to his compatriot Marquez. The Baby Alien in front was also constantly overshadowed by the junior.

The peak of the competition between the two occurred at Turn 12 in the last two laps when Acosta's maneuver was immediately tried to be broken by Marquez. However, it made Acosta widen from the track. This incident was also immediately investigated by the FIM MotoGP Steward Panel. The result of Marquez's last lap was punished by one position so that Acosta also sailed smoothly to finish first. Raul Fernandez managed to secure the third position, while his teammate Ai Ogura (Trackhouse) was involved in a fight with 2024 world champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) to occupy the fourth position. The fifth place was filled by Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), followed by Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) and Fabio Di Giannantonio who finally managed to bring home two points thanks to the eighth place finish. The rider who is familiarly called Diggia defeated his compatriot duo Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) who filled the ninth and tenth places.