MotoGP 2026: Pedro Acosta claims his maiden victory at Austrian GP

In what many will say has been a long time coming, Pedro Acosta has finally claimed his first MotoGP race victory with an impressive performance at the Red Bull Ring. He delivers a home win for KTM a day after crashing out of Saturday’s sprint, holding off Jorge Martin by just over a second, with Martin’s Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi completing the podium in third.

1. Acosta ends a 15-podium wait for his first MotoGP win
2. First KTM victory after 1,449 days
3. Marc Marquez finishes fifth as Martin extends championship lead

Acosta bounces back after Saturday DNF for maiden victory

Martin made the best of his pole position to lead into Turn 1, with Bezzecchi passing Marc Marquez to slot into second. Ai Ogura also made a fast start from the second row, working his way past Marquez a few corners in to complete an Aprilia 1-2-3 on the opening lap. Acosta dropped back to fifth in the first few corners but recovered quickly to move past Marquez and Ogura into third, with his sights set on the two factory Aprilias ahead of him.

By Lap 4, Acosta made a move past Bezzecchi to claim P2, and a couple of laps later, he’d increased the gap to 1.5 seconds while closing in on race leader Martin. Then, on Lap 9, he made his decisive move on Martin, who, despite keeping pace with him for most of the remaining stages, was unable to reclaim the top spot. Acosta held firm to take the chequered flag 1.017 seconds clear, with Bezzecchi a further two-tenths back in third.

A tough day for Marc Marquez

Ogura crossed the line fourth, just over a second behind Bezzecchi, while Marc Marquez brought his Ducati home fifth after battling brake issues through the race. Brad Binder brought home sixth for KTM with his best finish of the season, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, with Fermin Aldeguer’s eighth-place finish coming after a 3-second penalty. Fabio Di Giannantonio and Johann Zarco rounded out the top ten.

Championship standings

Martin’s second-place finish extends his championship lead to 12 points over Marquez, as the two riders entered the race weekend tied on points. Aprilia also left Austria leading the constructors’ standings by 10 points over Ducati. For KTM, the win comes with a bittersweet edge as Acosta is set to leave the factory team at the end of the season to join Marquez aboard the factory Ducati in what promises to be one of the most exciting team dynamics in recent history.