GP Austria 2026, the Sprint report

15.35 – Our coverage ends here, thank you all for following this live text update. The appointment is naturally tomorrow for the ‘long race’. We will see if Acosta can take revenge after today’s incredible mistake.

Read more GP Austria 2026, Sprint finishing order: Martin rejects Acosta’s gift, triumph ahead of Marquez and Bezzecchi

15.30 – 20th career victory in a Sprint for Martin who returns to -1 from Marquez in this particular ranking. In the World Championship instead, the 2024 champion is now +3 ahead of his compatriot.

15.25 – Below is the final Sprint classification. Points also for Alex Marquez, a good Bagnaia and then Zarco, Aldeguer and Brad Binder. A blank lap instead for Fabio Di Giannantonio, only 10th and out of the points zone.

Checkered flag! – Jorge Martin wins the Sprint in Austria! Aprilia breaks Ducati’s dominance at the Red Bull Ring! All the title contenders are right up front: 2nd Marc Marquez, 3rd Bezzecchi, 4th an applauded Ogura. But everyone must thank Acosta’s stunning harakiri.

Lap 13/14 – Gift for Martin, who is now first despite the start error and thanks to a phenomenal comeback. Marquez is second, Bezzecchi third. Acosta has fallen to P14 and then retires in the pits.

Lap 12/14 – Acosta makes a disaster! Incredible crash at the chicane! He was alone in first! Victory thrown away. The KTM rider’s mistake was incredible, he arrived too fast in curve 2A-B, the maneuver by the Spaniard was totally wrong.

Lap 11/14 – Ogura passes Alex Marquez at the ‘S’ and takes P5. The Japanese, after missing two rounds, seems to be back in great shape. Meanwhile, Morbidelli crashes in curve 2.

Lap 10/14 – Marquez and Bezzecchi have lost a few tenths to Martin.

Lap 9/14 – Martin is pulling a train with Marquez and Bezzecchi. Positions behind them are frozen. Meanwhile, Acosta’s margin has risen to +2.6 seconds.

Lap 8/14 – Marquez also pays the ‘Martin tax’ and is overtaken in curve-1. Acosta now seems unbeatable. Now let’s see if Bezzecchi can challenge Marquez for third place.

Lap 7/14 – We are halfway through the Sprint and here comes the ‘usual’ Martin overtake: again in curve-1, passed Bezzecchi. Now it will be a battle with Marquez for second position in the race and first in the World Championship. Behind always Alex Marquez, Ogura, a decent Bagnaia, Binder and Zarco.

Lap 6/14 – Acosta and Martin are the fastest on track. Bezzecchi now struggling: Marquez ahead is pulling away and Martin behind is ready to attack.

Lap 5/14 – Curve 1 is Martin’s curve: also passed Alex Marquez, next on the list is Bezzecchi. Rain of penalties in the back: double Long Lap Penalty for Fernandez and Moreira for jump start.

Lap 4/14 – Acosta increases the lead to 1.3. Martin recovers another position, always in Curve 1: passed Ogura.

Read more Martin returns ahead of everyone in qualifying: “I enjoyed the pole”

Lap 3/14 – Acosta on the run. Over a second margin on Marquez, who ‘marks’ Bezzecchi defensively. Martin climbs back: blasts past Bagnaia in curve 1 and now targets Ogura. Points zone also for Binder and Zarco.

Lap 2/14 – Acosta tries to pull away. Then Marquez and Bezzecchi, who stalks the defending champion. Martin is 7th, behind Bagnaia who is making life hard for him. Ahead of them Alex Marquez and Ogura in P4 and P5.

Lap 1/14 – Chaos right at the start! Very hard attack by Marquez on Martin at the chicane of curve 2A-B. Martin had already made a mistake before and after Marquez’s attack he fell back to P8. Up front Acosta appeared, then Marquez and Bezzecchi.

15.00 – The reconnaissance lap begins.

14.57 – Three riders opted for a different tire choice: Bagnaia, Marini and Rins chose the Medium-Medium combination. For all others, the rear tire chosen is Soft.

14.55 – Wind practically absent at the moment. 5′ to the start of the reconnaissance lap. Eyes on curve 1: in the last two rounds, at Aragon and Misano, Marquez won the Sprint right at the start.

14.52 – Ducati is inevitably the favorite, at least statistically: in 2025 Marc Marquez won both the Sprint and the GP; in 2024 and 2023 the short race-long race double was achieved by Bagnaia himself.

14.47 – Curiosity also to see how Francesco Bagnaia will fare today, who will start from seventh position on the grid and who is going through an incredible crisis period. In Austria, however, the Ducati rider had been very strong in the past.

14.44 – According to the timing monitor, all riders should start with medium front and soft rear tires. We will see if there will be any last-second changes on the grid.

14.41 – Riders on track, the formation lap begins to get into grid position.

14.40 – This Sprint will be very intriguing also in championship terms: the top three in the World Championship – Martin, Marquez and Bezzecchi – start in the first four positions and Pedro Acosta is between them. In the standings Marquez and Martin are tied, Bezzecchi is at -33.

14.35 – Quite cool weather in Spielberg: 22°C air temperature, 19°C track temperature. The sky is mostly clear though.

14.30 – Below we summarize the starting grid:

Good afternoon dear readers of FormulaPassion.it and welcome back to the live text coverage of the Sprint race of the MotoGP class GP Austria held at the Red Bull Ring circuit.

Read more GP Austria 2026, starting grid: Martin, a super pole! Marquez 15 thousandths behind, Acosta 3rd ahead of Bez. Bagnaia 7th