2026 MotoGP Hungary LIVE: Reaction from Balaton after Marquez wins Sprint

24C air temperature and 43C track temperature ahead of this 13-lap Sprint.

Everyone with the medium front and soft rear combination, no medium rear defectors like Raul Fernandez and Jorge Martin last week.

Here's the full starting order for today.

If Marquez is on pole today it's not for a lack of competition. He and Pedro Acosta have been more or less a step ahead of the field in terms of speed all weekend and Acosta, starting second, is sure to be Marquez's closest challenger today.

The KTM rider may have a stronger chance over a full race tomorrow, as he did last week when Marquez tired towards the end in Mugello, but Acosta's only MotoGP win so far came in the Sprint format when he took the victory in the controversial Buriram Sprint back in February.

Pit lane is open at Balaton ahead of the Sprint, which is now just 20 minutes away.

Marc Marquez starts from pole position today after securing his second pole of the season this morning, the previous one coming at Jerez in April.

Marquez is yet to win a grand prix yet this year, but has taken two Sprint wins, the last of those also coming in Jerez.

The reigning champion enters this weekend 102 points behind in the standings, but with Marco Bezzecchi down in sixth on the grid and Jorge Martin two places further back, there is an opportunity for Marquez to make up ground this weekend, even if the margin is likely to still be substantial by the end of the weekend.

Fitness is still a question mark for Marquez, after his two surgeries after the French Grand Prix. A full-distance race could still prove difficult for the Ducati rider, but a half-distance Sprint might be less problematic.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

The order behind them:

13. Mir
14. Bastianini
15. Quartararo
16. Lecuona
17. Binder
18. Razgatlioglu
19. Morbidelli
20. Rins
21. Vinales
22. Crutchlow

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.