Marc Marquez, 2026 MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Marc Marquez, 2026 MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
LIVE

2026 MotoGP Hungary LIVE: Sprint updates from Balaton after Marc Marquez took pole

Live updates from the Sprint race at the 2026 Hungarian MotoGP at Balaton Park.

Live coverage of the Sprint at the 2026 MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix from Balaton Park. The Sprint is coming up this afternoon at 15:00 local time.

Key Moments

  • Marquez takes pole from Acosta
  • Bezzecchi the leading Aprilia on the grid in P6
  • Sprint to start at 15:00 local time/14:00 BST

Pedro Acosta came into Saturday having been comfortably the fastest rider yesterday and the only rider to lap in the 1m36s bracket. His advantage over the field was over 0.4 seconds in Practice, enough to impress championship leader Marco Bezzecchi. Last year, his weekend unravelled in qualifying when he crashed at turn eight, but this time he qualified on the front row in second.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was the fastest rider behind Acosta and continued to assert himself as Ducati's strongest rider in 2026, at least while Marc Marquez is recovering his physical condition. Di Giannantonio and Marquez were among only three Ducati riders to finish Practice in the top-10, Marquez finishing seventh after topping FP1, to his surprise. The other was Fermin Aldeguer in fourth.

Both Marquez and Aldeguer start from the front row today, Marquez on pole and Aldeguer from third, while Di Giannantonio will start fourth.

Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi in sixth on the grid today. His chief title rival, Jorge Martin, will start from row three in eighth.

Francesco Bagnaia did not make the top-10 in Practice and had to come through Q1 this morning to qualify fifth. He is also concerned about the race start due to track grip in turn one.

06 Jun 2026
13:22
Moto2 qualifying

Moto2 Q2 has just come to an end. Izan Guevara takes pole, while Manuel Gonzalez qualifies only fourth after topping all three practices. David Alonso was second yesterday afternoon and again this morning, but could only manage ninth in Q2.

MotoGP Sprint up next in just under 40 minutes.

13:05
Sprint

Welcome back to live coverage of today's MotoGP action from Balaton Park. The Sprint is due to start in just under an hour at 15:00 local time.

11:45
MotoGP to try revised grid format?

MotoGP to test F1-style grid spacing in Hungary

Grid, 2026 Italian MotoGP.
Grid, 2026 Italian MotoGP.
© Gold & Goose
11:05
The grid for this afternoon's Sprint race in Hungary...

Starting grid for the 2026 Balaton Park MotoGP Sprint race

Hungarian MotoGP qualifying: Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer.
Hungarian MotoGP qualifying: Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer.
© Gold and Goose
10:45
Report: Marc Marquez snatches Hungary MotoGP pole from Pedro Acosta despite crash

Marc Marquez dashed Pedro Acosta’s hopes for Hungary MotoGP pole on Saturday morning

Marc Marquez snatches Hungary MotoGP pole from Pedro Acosta despite crash

Marc Marquez, Ducati Corse, 2026 Hungary MotoGP
Marc Marquez, Ducati Corse, 2026 Hungary MotoGP
© Gold and Goose

 


 

10:33
Balaton Park: MotoGP Qualifying Results

Hungarian MotoGP, Balaton Park - qualifying Results

Marc Marquez, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
Marc Marquez, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose

 

 

10:31
Marc Marquez on Hungary pole

The shapes Marquez has this Ducati in at the moment are incredible, especially considering his physical condition. 

He improves on his final lap again by 0.006s. It's pole for the reigning champion.

Acosta second, then Aldeguer completes the front row.

Di Giannantonio, Bagnaia, and Bezzecchi on row two.

Fernandez, Martin, Marini row three.

Ogura, Moreira, Miller row four.

10:29

Acosta improves on his final lap but it's not enough for pole. Marquez going again.

10:29

Marquez and Di Giannantonio find improvements, Marquez for provisional pole and Di Giannantionio for third.

10:28

Aldeguer up to second now but 0.3s behind Acosta still.

10:28

Acosta improves again, he drops into the 1m36s with a 36.888s lap. Half-a-second clear now, ballistic pace.

10:27

Better lap was coming from Bezzecchi, but he blew the last chicane.

10:23

Marquez gets his second lap in and goes second, albeit 0.2s behind Acosta. That's a solid recovery, though, from Marquez - he was on the floor five minutes ago.

Bezzecchi is back to eighth now, with Fernandez up onto the front row in third.

10:21

Marquez has a time on the board but only P11 at the moment.

10:21

Acosta improves again to a 1m37.228s. Martin behind him goes second. Bezzecchi improves to fifth but losing massive time in the final two splits - he was equal with Acosta's time after sector two but 0.5s down at the line.

10:19

Acosta sets the early benchmark, 1m37.419s, so already faster than Bagnaia's Q1 best.

10:18
Marquez, Di Giannantonio down

Marc Marquez has gone down a turn one, Di Giannantonio follows him in as well. Not a great start for the Ducati pair.

10:15
Q2 start

Q2 is underway at Balaton as pit lane re-opens.

Marini and Bagnaia join:

  • Marquez
  • Di Giannantonio
  • Acosta
  • Bezzecchi
  • Martin
  • Fernandez
  • Moreira
  • Miller
  • Aldeguer
  • Ogura
10:07
Bagnaia & Marini to Q2

Bagnaia and Marini hang onto their Q2 spots at the end of Q1.

The order behind them:

  1. Mir
  2. Bastianini
  3. Quartararo
  4. Lecuona
  5. Binder
  6. Razgatlioglu
  7. Morbidelli
  8. Rins
  9. Vinales
  10. Crutchlow
10:03

Bagnaia now does displace Marini, 1m37.443s.

Marini still second for now, and there's yellow flags at turn two for a crash for Brad Binder.

10:02

Marini goes fastest. There are others coming behind him, but neither Lecuona nor Mir can better the Italian.

 

09:58

Everyone back in the pits now ahead of their second runs.

Bastianini and Mir holding those two Q2 spots at the moment.

09:56

Lecuona was briefly fastest but he's been move to third as Mir and then Bastianini go fastest, into the 1m37s now.

Bagnaia gets a lap in - P8 on a 1m38.4s.

09:54

Razgatlioglu with the early benchmark but a 1m38.0s won't be enough, you'd think.

09:53

Mir has also lost his first flyer, he's run on at turns nine and 10.

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