The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez was the first European round of the MotoGP season, and it turned out exactly the way Jerez often does: emotional, tense, unpredictable and revealing, though not entirely “clean” in terms of the real competitive order. On Friday the track was dry, on Saturday rain turned qualifying and the sprint upside down, and on Sunday the main race was again held in dry conditions. As a result, one weekend produced two very different pictures: Marc Marquez’s chaotic sprint victory on Saturday and Alex Marquez’s almost flawless Sunday win, as he claimed the Spanish Grand Prix at home for the second year in a row.
Friday: Alex Marquez sets the tone, Ducati and Aprilia immediately in contention
Friday at Jerez began with a classic reconnaissance run. Fabio Di Giannantonio was fastest in FP1 on the VR46 Ducati with a 1:36.954. His teammate Franco Morbidelli was second, while Alex Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez completed the top five. Even that session showed that Ducati felt more comfortable on the Spanish track than it had during the opening flyaway rounds, while Bezzecchi’s Aprilia had not lost momentum after a strong start to the championship. An important detail was that Di Giannantonio and Morbidelli moved to the top on fresh tyres at the end of the session, while the Marquez brothers and Bezzecchi were still using older rubber, which made their pace look even more convincing.
In the main Friday practice, Alex Marquez left no room for doubt. The Gresini Ducati rider set a 1:35.704 and beat Di Giannantonio by 0.333 seconds. Bezzecchi was third, Marc Marquez fourth, Ai Ogura fifth and Francesco Bagnaia sixth. Raul Fernandez, Fermin Aldeguer, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini also made it into the top 10. Pedro Acosta was only 15th and had to go through Q1 — an unpleasant scenario for KTM at the Spaniard’s home round.
The main conclusion from Friday was simple: Alex Marquez looked like the clear favourite for a dry weekend. His advantage was not only about one fast lap — he looked naturally quick in Jerez rhythm. Ducati delivered a strong response to Aprilia’s recent run, while Alex himself, the winner of the previous year’s Spanish Grand Prix, immediately showed that he was again capable of fighting not just for a podium, but for victory.
Saturday practice: rain changes the character of the weekend
Saturday began in completely different conditions. Rain made the track difficult, cold and treacherous. Pedro Acosta was fastest in final practice with a 1:48.862, beating Marc Marquez by 0.511 seconds. Johann Zarco was third, Bezzecchi fourth and Martin fifth. This session mattered not only because of Acosta’s lap time, but also because a wet Jerez sharply widened the circle of contenders: Zarco’s Honda came alive, Acosta’s KTM became more visible, and Marc Marquez once again found himself in his element.
photo: PSP/Lukasz Swiderek @photopsp_lukasz_swiderek www.photopsp.com
The practice session included several worrying moments. Toprak Razgatlioglu produced a spectacular save in the final corner, sliding for several seconds on his knee and elbow before managing to pick up the Yamaha. Fermin Aldeguer crashed at the final corner, Brad Binder had a high-speed fall late in the session, and Joan Mir was placed under investigation for returning to the pits after a black-and-orange flag. That later turned into a double long-lap penalty for the race.
Qualifying: Marc Marquez takes pole, Zarco almost causes a sensation
Qualifying was held on a wet track, and once again Marc Marquez’s experience proved decisive. The Ducati Lenovo rider took pole position with a 1:48.087. It was his first pole of the 2026 season and an important psychological moment: after an imperfect start to the championship, Marc once again had the chance to start the races from the best possible position in front of his home crowd.
Marquez’s main rival in qualifying was, unexpectedly, Johann Zarco on the LCR Honda. The Frenchman was only 0.140 seconds slower and came close to a surprise pole, but a mistake in the final corner on his decisive lap left him second. Di Giannantonio was third, Bezzecchi fourth, Alex Marquez still qualified fifth despite a crash, and Acosta was sixth. Jorge Martin set the seventh-fastest time, but he had a three-place penalty for blocking Alex Marquez on Friday and therefore dropped back for Sunday’s race.
photo: PSP/Lukasz Swiderek @photopsp_lukasz_swiderek www.photopsp.com
The full qualifying picture was as follows: Marc Marquez, Zarco and Di Giannantonio on the front row; Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez and Acosta on the second; Martin, Bastianini and Raul Fernandez on the third; and Bagnaia only tenth. For the factory Ducati team, qualifying was a mixed story: Marc’s pole was a strong result, but Bagnaia was far from the fight for the leading positions.
Sprint: chaos, rain, crashes and Marc Marquez’s victory after a fall
The sprint was the wildest part of the weekend. Before the start of the 12-lap race, the track began to dry, but dark clouds gathered again over Jerez. Marc Marquez started from pole and made the holeshot, Zarco tried to stay close, but Alex Marquez gradually moved forward and began hunting down his brother. On lap seven, Alex passed Marc and took the lead, while Di Giannantonio closed in on the leaders. It was at that moment that the rain began to intensify.
From there, the sprint turned into a lottery. The leaders initially stayed on slicks, but Marc Marquez crashed at the final corner just after passing the pit-lane entry. Normally, such a mistake destroys a race, but this time it unexpectedly worked in his favour: the bike stayed running, Marc cut across the grass into the pit lane and switched to his wet bike while the other leaders were still losing a lap in the worsening rain.
Alex Marquez, who seemed to be heading for victory, then crashed himself in extremely slippery conditions. Bezzecchi also went down, Jorge Martin retired with a technical issue, reportedly related to the brakes, and the race became a sequence of crashes, bike swaps and constant position changes. Once the chaos calmed slightly, Bagnaia found himself in the lead, but Marc Marquez quickly caught and passed his teammate with three laps to go.
photo: PSP/Lukasz Swiderek @photopsp_lukasz_swiderek www.photopsp.com
The sprint result: Marc Marquez won in 21:25.651, Bagnaia finished second, 3.050 seconds behind, Morbidelli charged to the podium from 18th on the grid, Brad Binder finished fourth and Di Giannantonio fifth. Raul Fernandez, Fabio Quartararo, Zarco and Luca Marini followed. Among the retirements were Mir, Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez, Savadori, Razgatlioglu and Martin.
In terms of drama, it was one of the most spectacular sprints of the season. In terms of pure speed, it was far less representative. Marc won thanks to skill, instinct and luck, but the race itself highlighted the chaotic conditions more than the true competitive order. Alex Marquez lost an almost guaranteed victory, Bezzecchi scored no points, Martin also came away with nothing, and Ducati achieved a Saturday one-two, even though in the dry conditions on Friday it was Alex who had looked like the main figure.
Sunday warm-up: dry Jerez restores Alex Marquez as favourite
On Sunday morning, the track was dry and sunny. In the short warm-up, Alex Marquez was fastest again with a 1:37.234. Marc Marquez was only 0.045 seconds behind, Di Giannantonio 0.056 back, Bezzecchi 0.116 behind and Raul Fernandez 0.120 off. These close gaps suggested that the race could be tight, but the more important point was this: in normal dry conditions, Alex again looked like the most natural candidate for victory.
Main race: Alex Marquez is flawless, Marc crashes, Bagnaia retires
The 25-lap Sunday race began with a perfect start from Marc Marquez. He took the holeshot from pole, but Bezzecchi also launched well, while Alex Marquez quickly moved up to third. Early in the race, Alex passed Bezzecchi and then attacked his brother at the Dani Pedrosa corner, Turn 6. On lap two, Alex took the lead.
The key moment of the race came almost immediately. Marc Marquez, trying to stay with his brother, lost the front at the fast Turn 11 and crashed heavily. He got up unaided and avoided injury, but his race was over. It was the second year in a row that the Spanish Grand Prix at home had ended for Marc with an early Sunday mistake. For the championship battle, it was a serious blow: after the weekend, Reuters assessed his gap to Bezzecchi at 44 points.
photo: PSP/Lukasz Swiderek @photopsp_lukasz_swiderek www.photopsp.com
After Marc’s crash, the race came under Alex Marquez’s control. Bezzecchi ran second, while Di Giannantonio passed Martin and secured third. By lap 10, Alex had built a gap of around 1.6 seconds over Bezzecchi, who in turn kept Di Giannantonio behind. Martin remained close to the podium fight, but it gradually became clear that he did not have enough pace to attack the top three.
On lap 12, the factory Ducati collapse became complete: Francesco Bagnaia entered the pits with a technical problem and retired. After his second place in the sprint, it was a painful contrast. The factory team had taken pole and a one-two in the sprint, but scored nothing in the main race: Marc crashed, Bagnaia retired.
Alex Marquez brought the race home with confidence and composure. He won in 40:48.861, Bezzecchi finished second, 1.903 seconds behind, and Di Giannantonio completed the podium, 5.796 seconds back. Jorge Martin, Ai Ogura, Raul Fernandez, Johann Zarco, Enea Bastianini, Fermin Aldeguer and Pedro Acosta followed.
For Alex, this was not just a victory. He won his home Spanish Grand Prix for the second year in a row, did it in his 250th world championship start, and gave Ducati its first Sunday race victory of the 2026 season. At the same time, it was the private Gresini Ducati team that stopped the winning streak of Aprilia and Bezzecchi.
Main conclusions by manufacturer
Ducati had a very mixed weekend. On one hand, Alex Marquez won the main race, Marc Marquez took pole and the sprint victory, and Di Giannantonio was consistently fast and claimed a Sunday podium. On the other hand, the factory Ducati team failed in the main race: neither of its riders finished. That is an important nuance. Ducati returned to the top, but the clear leader inside its camp is still not obvious. Autosport also noted that Ducati was back in the title game, but without one clear flagship rider.
Aprilia lost the victory, but not the championship. Bezzecchi failed in the sprint, but on Sunday he scored 20 points for second place. Martin finished fourth after a penalty and a difficult Saturday. Trackhouse also had a strong race: Ogura was fifth and Raul Fernandez sixth. For Aprilia, it was not a perfect weekend, but it was a very strong one in terms of points.
KTM looked inconsistent. Acosta shone in wet Saturday practice, but in the race he made a mistake, lost positions and finished only tenth. The best KTM rider was Bastianini in eighth place. Binder, after finishing fourth in the sprint, was only 11th on Sunday.
Honda received a strong weekend from Zarco. Second in qualifying, points in the sprint and seventh in the race made it one of Honda’s best overall results in recent times. Joan Mir, despite penalties, made it to 15th and scored one point.
Yamaha remained far away again. Quartararo was the best rider for the brand, but only 14th in the race. Razgatlioglu had a weekend with some bright moments, but no real result: technical problems on Friday, a dramatic incident in the sprint and 19th place in the race.
The championship picture after Jerez
24-26/04/2026 photo: PSP/Lukasz Swiderek @photopsp_lukasz_swiderek www.photopsp.com
Jerez did not give a final answer as to who is stronger in the 2026 season — Aprilia or Ducati. Alex Marquez’s dry-weather speed and Di Giannantonio’s podium showed that Ducati is capable of dominating on certain tracks. But Bezzecchi again scored a major Sunday result and kept control of the championship. According to the post-race standings, Bezzecchi led with 101 points, Martin was second with 90, Di Giannantonio third with 71, Acosta fourth with 66 and Marc Marquez fifth with 57.
The biggest loser of the weekend was Marc Marquez. He won pole and the sprint, but his Sunday retirement wiped out the most important part of the work. In the current points system, a sprint victory matters, but it does not compensate for a zero in the main race, especially when the championship leader finishes second. Marc showed speed, but his title campaign again took a hit because of a mistake at the key moment.
The biggest winner was Alex Marquez. He was fast on Friday, lost the sprint because of the rain, but on Sunday gave his rivals no chance. His race was mature: a strong start, an early pass on Marc, controlled pace, no unnecessary risk and a confident finish. For Gresini, this was a victory of major importance, and for Ducati, proof that even when the factory team has problems, the brand still has several real attacking forces.
Brief results
Friday practice
Alex Marquez — 1:35.704
Fabio Di Giannantonio +0.333
Marco Bezzecchi +0.506
Marc Marquez +0.523
Ai Ogura +0.544
Qualifying
Marc Marquez — 1:48.087
Johann Zarco +0.140
Fabio Di Giannantonio +1.010
Marco Bezzecchi +1.028
Alex Marquez +1.059
Sprint
Marc Marquez — 21:25.651
Francesco Bagnaia +3.050
Franco Morbidelli +7.493
Brad Binder +8.752
Fabio Di Giannantonio +9.237
Race
Alex Marquez — 40:48.861
Marco Bezzecchi +1.903
Fabio Di Giannantonio +5.796
Jorge Martin +9.229
Ai Ogura +9.891
Conclusion
The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix became a weekend of two Marquezes. On Saturday, Marc won one of the most chaotic sprints in recent years, turning his own crash into a tactical advantage. On Sunday, Alex answered with a flawless dry race in which there was no doubt who was strongest in normal Jerez conditions. Ducati returned to winning ways, but the factory team left with a worrying Sunday. Aprilia lost its winning streak, but kept the championship lead. And after Jerez, the season became even more interesting: the battle is now not simply between manufacturers, but between several different centres of strength — Bezzecchi and Martin on Aprilias, Alex Marquez and Di Giannantonio on satellite Ducatis, Marc Marquez on the factory Ducati, and Acosta, who is still searching for consistency on the KTM.
