Starting grid for the 2026 Balaton Park MotoGP Sprint race
The full starting grid for Saturday’s 2026 Balaton Park MotoGP Sprint race in Hungary.
Marc Marquez starts from pole position for this afternoon’s Balaton Park MotoGP Sprint race after edging out KTM’s Pedro Acosta in a close qualifying duel.
The future team-mates were separated by just 0.053s after Ducati’s Marquez recovered from an early spill to snatch pole away from KTM’s Acosta.
Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer made the most of chassis updates for his GP25 to claim the final place on the front row, 0.340s behind Marquez.
Row two of the grid is headed by Ducati’s top rider in the world championship, VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio, who fell moments after Marquez at the start of qualifying.
Pecco Bagnaia battled through Qualifying 1 to claim fifth on the grid, ahead of Aprilia’s title leader Marco Bezzecchi.
Team-mate and closest world championship challenger Jorge Martin lines up eighth, between Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez and the leading Honda of Luca Marini.
Pramac’s Jack Miller was the only Yamaha to make Qualifying 2, for twelfth on the grid.
Further back, Alex Marquez’s Gresini replacement Iker Lecuona will begin his first MotoGP race since 2023 from 16th. LCR stand-in Cal Crutchlow completes the grid on his Balaton debut.
There are currently no penalties.
The 13-lap Balaton Park Sprint starts at 3pm local time (2pm UK).
2026 Balaton Park MotoGP Sprint race: Full starting grid
Row 1: Marc Marquez (pole), Pedro Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer
Row 2: Fabio Di Giannantonio, Francesco Bagnaia, Marco Bezzecchi
Row 3: Raul Fernandez, Jorge Martin, Luca Marini
Row 4: Ai Ogura, Diogo Moreira, Jack Miller
Row 5: Joan Mir, Enea Bastianini, Fabio Quartararo
Row 6: Iker Lecuona, Brad Binder, Toprak Razgatlioglu
Row 7: Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins, Maverick Viñales
Row 8: Cal Crutchlow.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
