Marc Marquez wins wet Spanish MotoGP Sprint despite late crash, chaotic conditions lead to 7 DNFs

Marc Marquez recovered from a dramatic late crash to secure Spanish MotoGP Sprint victory ahead of Francesco Bagnaia in a crash-filled spectacle at Jerez.

The eight-time world champion led a dominant Ducati 1-2-3 in the rain-lashed 12-lap sprint shootout that saw slicks give way to wets, with multiple high-profile falls creating chaos across the field.

From the moment the lights went out, the race set a frenetic tone as riders grappled with a track that started dry but quickly succumbed to intermittent showers sweeping across the Andalusian circuit.

Pole-sitter Marc Marquez, fresh off a dominant wet qualifying session where he outpaced LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco by just 0.140 seconds, exploded off the line to snatch the holeshot into Turn 1.

Right on his tail were Zarco in second and Gresini’s Alex Marquez in third, forming an early trio that promised a fierce intra-manufacturer battle among the Ducatis.

Meanwhile, championship leader Marco Bezzecchi suffered a wheelspin nightmare at the start, plummeting to 16th place and setting the tone for his disastrous afternoon.

Bezzecchi’s Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin rocketed from the third row to briefly snag third by the end of Lap 1, only for the younger Marquez to reclaim it effortlessly at Turn 1 on the next lap.

However, Martin’s charge was abruptly halted by an issue with his front brakes, forcing the Spaniard into early retirement in a double blow for Aprilia.

As the opening laps progressed, Marc built a small but commanding lead, while Zarco’s Honda LCR machine bottled up the midfield pack, allowing Alex to dispatch him with a daring move on Lap 3.

Further back, Fabio Di Giannantonio was slicing through the field after a mid-grid start, with the VR46 rider closing a two-second deficit on Lap 6.

Marquez later held up the field as spots of rain began to speckle the circuit, and Alex sensed vulnerability in his brother’s defense, pouncing at Turn 7 to take the lead.

Rainfall intensified dramatically around Lap 8 claiming Toprak Razgatlioglu and Lorenzo Savadori, who both tumbled out of the race, triggering yellow flags that forced every rider to pit for wet-spec machinery.

Marquez, leading comfortably at that stage, was among the first to dive into the pits, executing a seamless transition that saw him re-emerge with a slight advantage over the competition.

However, disaster struck the defending champion on his out-lap after the swap when he lost the front end at Turn 6, sliding into the gravel.

Undeterred, Marquez leapt off the bike, sprinted to the pit lane in a controversial shortcut across the track—with no other riders impeded—and remounted his wet-setup spare, rejoining the fray in P5 with just four laps remaining.

Alex’s gamble to stay out on slicks for one more lap backfired spectacularly as he crashed at Turn 8 and was unable to rejoin the race, handing the lead to Gresini teammate Fermin Aldeguer who also had not pitted for wets.

Aldeguer eventually pitted with three laps to go as Bezzecchi and KTM duo of Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder crashed out of the race.

This left Francesco Bagnaia leading, but factory Ducati teammate Marc Marquez was quick to overtake him in the penultimate lap and cruise to Spanish MotoGP Sprint victory.

Full 2026 Spanish MotoGP Sprint Race Results

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