Jorge Martin swept to victory in Saturday's sprint race at the British Grand Prix, leading every one of the 10 laps from pole to claim his third Tissot Sprint win of the 2026 MotoGP season.
The 2024 world champion launched cleanly from pole on his updated Aprilia RS-GP and was never headed, fending off an early challenge from Ai Ogura before easing clear to take the chequered flag 1.5 seconds ahead of the SuperFile Trackhouse rider.
Marco Bezzecchi completed an emotional Aprilia 1-2-3, the factory's first podium sweep in a sprint. The Italian, still recovering from recent injury, battled past Fabio Di Giannantonio at Copse with four laps to go and was in tears at the flag after climbing back to third.
It was a day to forget for Ducati. Alex Marquez was the best-placed Desmosedici rider in fourth for Gresini, nearly three seconds adrift of the podium, while Di Giannantonio faded to fifth after a late loss of rear grip. Marc Marquez endured a miserable afternoon: struggling for pace throughout, the seven-time champion was passed by Pedro Acosta, Joan Mir and Franco Morbidelli in the closing laps and clung to the final point by just 0.027 seconds in ninth.
Raul Fernandez crashed out at The Loop while sitting on the tail of Bezzecchi, with Iker Lecuona and Cal Crutchlow also falling.
Martin's lights-to-flag win extends his championship lead to 17 points over Ogura. Bezzecchi's podium lifts him above Marquez into third, 27 points back, with the Ducati Lenovo rider fourth and Di Giannantonio fifth.
The riders return for the 20-lap Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, where Martin will bid for a third straight British GP win.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1102297/1/jorge-martin-wins-silverstone-motogp-sprint-ducati-struggles
- https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2026/08/08/martin-soars-to-silverstone-saturday-gold-as-aprilia-clinch-first-sprint-1-2-3/1081732
