Bezzecchi dominates in MotoGP's return to Brazil

Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) has stamped himself as a true contender for the 2026 MotoGP World Championship after claiming his fourth consecutive victory and leading every lap of the shortened Brazilian GP.

Despite this rich vein of form, which means he hasn’t been headed in a full-length GP in more than 100 laps, it didn’t come easy for the laid-back Italian rider earlier in the weekend, when he struggled to find a setting and couldn’t lift himself higher than 20th on the timesheets.

It all went to plan thereafter, as he mustered a front-row start and a fourth-place finish in the Sprint behind winner Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) and second-place finisher and pole sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), while his teammate Jorge Martin’s bronze medal marked his first rostrum finish since he wrapped up the 2024 world title.

But as the lights went out to mark the first grand prix in the South American country in 22 years, Bezzecchi didn’t put a wheel wrong. He grabbed the holeshot ahead of Di Giannantonio, Marquez, and Martin, while Pedro Acosta made a good start from ninth on the grid and was in fifth. A mistake from Di Giannantonio on the second lap allowed Marquez through to second. After posting the fastest lap of the race, Marquez looked set to chase Bezzecchi down for the lead.

The Aprilia rider responded with his own series of fastest laps and had put a full second between himself and the reigning world champ by the end of lap four, leaving Marquez and Di Giannantonio to battle it out for second place, with Martin and Acosta a further 0.5 seconds back.

On the sixth lap, Di Giannantonio made his move on Marquez, keen to seek revenge on the Spaniard for snatching the lead and ultimately the win in the Sprint race. The move came at Turn 4 and sent the pair wide, allowing Martin to pounce and leapfrog both Ducati riders, creating an Aprilia 1-2.

Two seconds up the road in just a seven-lap-old race, the Brazilian GP was now Bezzecchi’s to lose as the three-way battle for second raged behind him. Acosta, one of just a handful of riders to opt for the soft rear tyre, began to lose touch in fifth, with Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), Joan Mir (HRC), Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia), and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) all looking to benefit.

Martin put his head down to reduce the gap to the lead by a few tenths, which Bezzecchi immediately responded to with yet another fastest lap on lap 12. At the same time, Alex Marquez found a way through on Acosta for fifth. Acosta fought back, but a better drive out of the final corner allowed the younger Marquez through at the end of the kilometre-long start-finish straight.

The older Marquez hadn’t given up on his quest for second, but Di Giannantonio was holding firm. The two Ducati GP25s were now 1.4 seconds behind Martin’s Aprilia and 3.5 seconds off the leader.

Ogura relegated Acosta to seventh to start lap 15, while returnee Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati), who was forced to combine his pre-season with his maiden race weekend for the season, was in a very respectable eighth place ahead of Zarco, Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia), Luca Marini (HRC), Alex Rins (Monster Yamaha), and home-town hero and rookie Diego Moreira (LCR Honda).

Marquez finally passed Di Giannantonio with a block pass through Turns 6 and 7 on the 19th lap. With four laps left in the shortened 23-lap contest, the experience of the nine-time world champ seemed set to prevail. But a mistake the next time around allowed the VR46 Ducati rider back through, and his determination to keep hold of the final podium place denied the reigning world champ his first Sunday podium of 2026.

Some six seconds ahead, Bezzecchi crossed the line to become just the fifth rider in the modern era to win four Sunday grands prix in a row, joining Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, and Pecco Bagnaia.

Ogura passed Alex Marquez for fifth on the final lap, while Acosta, Aldeguer, Zarco, and Fernandez rounded out the top 10.

Jack Miller lined up for his 200th GP start, marking it by crashing out on the opening lap. He was joined on the list of DNFs by Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati), and Joan Mir (HRC).

The result puts Bezzecchi at the top of the standings with 56 points, ahead of his teammate Martin (45), Acosta (42), and Di Giannantonio (37), with reigning world champ Marquez (34) rounding out the top five.

The series now heads north to the Circuit of the Americas, where we’ll get a true understanding of how a fully fit Marc stacks up against the Aprilias, with practice kicking off in just five days’ time.