In one of the most pivotal Sprints of the year, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) snatched Tissot Sprint gold and reigned supreme in an epic battle against Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) at Phillip Island. The Martinator led coming into Saturday but crashed at Turn 8 on Lap 8 to hand the #93 a path to victory and the Championship lead. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) came home in a close second and thanks to Fabio Di Giannantonio's (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) fine P3 Ducati lockout the Saturday podium, while Martin's crash cruelly resulted in a weekend-ending injury.
The #93 got a perfect launch and snatched the holeshot but it was a fast-starting Martin who blasted through from row two to P2. It was an action-packed opening lap but it was Lap 2 where it all ignited as Alex Marquez got ahead of Martin into Turn 10. Martin fought straight back with a spectacular pass back on the 2025 runner-up at Turn 1 whilst Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) had a front row seat in P4.
Martinator wasn’t finished either as he set off after the #93 at the front and attacked into Turn 4 on Lap 3 but couldn’t pull it down, giving the reigning World Champion the upper hand. Then, an attack into Turn 10 from Martin, this time good enough to hold P1. The battle rumbled on but Zarco’s front-row seat had been handed to Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Alex Marquez whilst the Frenchman’s Sprint was over all together with a technical issue taking him out of P5.
We were in for a real treat though as the top two in the Championship duked it out; Martin’s lead didn’t last long though as he made a mistake at Turn 4 on Lap 5, allowing Marquez back under him. Into Turn 1 on Lap 6, Martin got him back but couldn’t hold the line into Turn 2, giving the #93 the high ground. The same repeated itself a couple of laps later on Lap 8 but with the same initial outcome. However, this time Martin had an answer at Turn 4, another attempt at a block pass but still he couldn’t pull it down.
Martin was on the ragged edge and it showed; taking the inside kerb at Turn 7, he was unsettled as he hit Turn 8 and tucked the front. Despite trying his best to dig in to save the crash, there was nothing that could’ve been done and the #89 was sent tumbling through the gravel. It was now a Marquez 1-2 with Marc leading Alex and Di Giannantonio ghosting his way into the podium places.
In the closing stages, it was Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) who was on a charge; he had initially lost ground at the start and went from P9 on the grid to P12 at the end of Lap 1 but had picked his way through into fifth before grabbing fourth off Acosta into Turn 1 with four laps to go.
Despite drops of rain and late charges from Alex and Diggia, there was nothing that could halt Marc Marquez from taking a ninth Sprint win of the year ahead of his brother and Di Giannantonio. Bezzecchi’s fightback brought the Italian a hard-earned fourth ahead of Acosta, whilst Ogura took sixth at the line but was soon under investigation regarding his tyre pressure. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came home seventh ahead of Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) who clinched home Sprint points in P8 and Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) who rounded out the scorers in ninth, denying Iker Lecuona (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in P10.
That was until Ogura was handed a post-Sprint tyre pressure penalty. Those eight seconds added to the Japanese rider's time mean Binder moves up to P6, Miller P7, Moreira P8, and Lecuona to the final point-scoring place in P9.
Marc Marquez is back in the Championship lead but with the weather uncertain for Sunday and further drama to unfold on The Island, who knows how we’ll leave Phillip Island for the final time on Sunday? What we do know is Martin won't be racing. We wish the 2024 World Champion a speedy recovery, as Saturday sees the championship picture change dramatically.
2025 winner, Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), has also been ruled out of Sunday's action after the Spaniard was forced to retire from the Sprint. The #25 is still suffering from the effects of his fractured right index finger sustained in Indonesia, so we also wish Fernandez a speedy recovery.
The 2026 Red Bull Grand Prix of Australia ignites at 14:00 local time (UTC +10) – our final roar on the island is now more unmissable than before.
MotoGP Sprint results from Phillip Island