The Chang International Circuit, home of the Thai GP, is a peculiar track for many reasons. The Tilke-designed track follows a similar pattern to the Red Bull Ring in Austria, with plenty of straights, fast corners and 90º bends. A peculiar combination that means that what is seen on the Thai track cannot really be extrapolated with what can be expected in other circuits. To this we must add, of course, the weather conditions.
But that does not mean that what we have seen this weekend at the Thai GP, without being definitive, does leave more doubts than there were before the start of the season. Aprilia is at its best in MotoGP, while KTM and Ducati have kept pace, but only with Acosta and Márquez who, by the way, have been the stars of the GP.
Once again only Bezzecchi could beat Bezzecchi and Acosta took advantage of it
The favorite sign for the Thai GP, given what was seen in the tests and knowing that the Ducati suffered especially with the special tire casing for this circuit, was Marco Bezzecchi. The Aprilia RS-GP works and Marco had been the fastest all weekend, taking pole in the process. Everything seemed to be set for a perfect weekend but, once again, Marco failed.
It is not the first time that Bezzecchi, who has been the great dominator of the last GPs held including last year, has not taken advantage of his pole position in the Sprint Race. On this occasion Marco was “erased” from the race with a mistake on the second lap that left Marc Márquez and Pedro Acosta in the fight for victory.
BEZZECCHI FALL WHEN HE WAS LEADING THE SPRINT 😱
The man on pole and dominator of the weekend goes down ❌#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/uycMFhglXd
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) February 28, 2026
The two Spaniards brought out their entire arsenal, with Acosta taking advantage of his virtues and Marc’s defects, and Márquez doing the same but in reverse. This is how the braking of turn 12 of the penultimate lap came to pass after the entire Sprint Race of overtaking and overtaking. Marc was very far from Pedro, he extended his braking and forced the KTM rider to modify his trajectory and go wide.
A tough and controversial action that was even more so when on the last lap, a few seconds after the incident, Race Direction forced Márquez to lose his position. Marc let Acosta pass at the last moment, and thus Pedro achieved his first victory.
But the controversy did not stop there, many pilots (in addition to Marc himself and even Acosta) considered the sanction excessive. And everyone had their opinion on a stock that, in reality, is not so easy to judge without having telemetry data in hand. The reason? Marc obviously does not follow the curve and forces Pedro to leave the line and the track to avoid the crash, but did Acosta release the brakes? Could you avoid that situation? Did Marc really brake late or did he release the brakes after gaining the position? Only they know and that would be decisive in knowing what happened.
The touch between Marc Márquez and Pedro Acosta in the middle of the fight for victory for which the ’93’ had to give up position 👀#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/ZzTQAaoqAj
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) February 28, 2026
In any case, we saw a recital, Acosta achieved his first victory even in the Sprint in the Thai GP, Marc Márquez finished second and Raúl Fernández, in silence and through hard work, achieved a great third position.
Marco makes amends at the Thai GP
After Saturday’s self-sabotage, Bezzecchi had all the pressure on his shoulders. He was the fastest by far and yet a mistake had left him without a prize. But as he did on more occasions last season, the Italian reset himself, came out determined and confident and the rest was “just a procedure” to achieve a new victory, the third in a row since he also won the Portuguese GP and the Valencia GP in 2025.
Overtaking piece @25raulfernandez to Marc Márquez 💥#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/Hjfwq8zkn8
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) March 1, 2026
With such a brilliant and consistent Marco, the interest was in the battle for the podium. Raúl Fernández once again brought out his speed and was the one who could follow Marco the closest, but he had to pay a price. In the final part of the race, his tire disintegrated, losing part of the tread to the point that, in the final part, analyzing the images, it is seen that he did not even activate the rear suspension lowering system to avoid problems.
Even so, he fought and only in the final stages was he overtaken by Pedro Acosta, who went from less to more to end up achieving second position behind Bezzecchi and ahead of the Madrid native. Marc Márquez was involved in that fight until practically the end, and like Acosta it seemed that at the beginning of the race he had no rhythm but then he was, at the same time as the Murcian, cutting time off Fernández.
But Marc was not only left off the podium but also out of the race due to going too far on the double curb and losing all the pressure in his tire upon impact, precisely with the curb. The positive side is that Marc, who was managing tires in the first part of the race, did not suffer a fall that could have been serious.
MARC MÁRQUEZ PUNCTURE 😱😱😱
THE WORLD CHAMPION SAYS GOODBYE TO THE FIRST RACE ❌#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/YlS6dItdaB
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) March 1, 2026
That problem on Marc’s bike left Ducati off the podium for the first time in 83 GPs and, the most worrying thing for Borgo Panigale, is that the rest of the brand’s riders could not even come close. In fact, the big beneficiaries were Jorge Martín, Ai Ogura and Aprilia, who gained positions so that the Spaniard, who is recovering his sensations, placed fourth, the Japanese fifth and with the four Aprilias in the first five positions.
Di Giannantonio, sixth, was the best Ducati with Binder -KTM- seventh, Morbidelli eighth, Bagnaia ninth and Marini tenth. Álex Márquez crashed on the same curve that his brother had had the problem and Joan Mir also accused technical problems “with an external supplier.” Those two last-minute losses, added to Marc’s, made up a top 10 that Yamaha couldn’t even get close to.
And if at Ducati it can be considered that performance may have been influenced by different tire casings, Yamaha continues its particular journey through the desert. Quartararo, the best, finished fourteenth with Rins behind him after a Viñales with set-up problems and the two Yamahas of Pramac Razagatliolgu and Miller.
Now three weeks before the next Brazilian GP will be a good time for everyone to analyze what happened in Thailand. In Goiania things may or may not change, in three weeks we will know.
