Marc Marquez takes winning form into MotoGP’s Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg, where Aprilia leads the teams’ standings and KTM races at home.
Marc Marquez heads to the Austrian Grand Prix after winning both races at Misano, as MotoGP travels directly from San Marino to Spielberg for round 15 of the 2026 season on September 18 to 20.
The reigning champion won Saturday’s San Marino Sprint ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, then claimed his 78th MotoGP victory on Sunday after the Aprilia rider crashed on lap one. Marquez departed Misano level on points with championship leader Jorge Martin, having erased a 102-point deficit over seven rounds.
Austria comes next. Here is the confirmed form guide for a weekend that starts Friday and ends with Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The championship fight arrives in Spielberg
The San Marino results brought Marquez level with Martin, while the Sprint left the top three riders separated by only 22 points.
Every Austrian session now matters in the championship fight.
Marquez brings the strongest results to Spielberg. Before sweeping Misano, he won the Aragon Sprint ahead of Alex Marquez and Bezzecchi, then defeated Pedro Acosta and Bezzecchi in the Grand Prix on August 30. An earlier perfect weekend in Germany featured his 10th MotoGP victory at the Sachsenring and lifted him to third in the standings at that point.
Misano pushed that run further. Marquez called his rivals’ mistakes a “present” after Sunday’s race and said the result tasted “sweet.”
Aprilia arrives with speed and the teams’ lead
Aprilia Racing led the teams’ standings with 488 points before the San Marino results, followed by Trackhouse Racing on 389 and Ducati Team on 380. The manufacturer’s riders have also delivered some of the strongest performance benchmarks from recent rounds.
Martin won the British Grand Prix Sprint, heading Ai Ogura and Bezzecchi as Aprilia filled the first three positions. He had secured pole by 0.021 seconds, becoming Silverstone’s eighth different polesitter in eight Grands Prix.
Trackhouse followed with victory in Sunday’s British Grand Prix through Raul Fernandez, who led from start to finish to earn his first Grand Prix win of the season. He was the 12th different winner in the last 12 British Grands Prix.
Bezzecchi has delivered Aprilia’s latest qualifying speed. He beat Marquez to pole with a record lap at Aragon, then did so again at Misano. His San Marino lap made him the first rider to circulate Misano in under 90 seconds. His race ended on lap one, though, and Bezzecchi said the crash “hurts a lot.”
KTM takes on its home Grand Prix
The Austrian round is KTM’s home event, putting extra focus on Acosta and the manufacturer’s broader lineup following a difficult San Marino weekend.
Acosta arrives with a recent second place at Aragon, where he split Marquez and Bezzecchi. His verdict after Misano was much harsher. He said KTM had gone “backwards” and called its deficit to Ducati and Aprilia “terrifying.”
Austria will also feature a confirmed rider change. Pol Espargaro will replace the injured Maverick Viñales, remaining in the Tech3 KTM lineup at Spielberg.
Espargaro’s participation gives KTM another rider for its home round as Viñales continues his recovery.
Comparing the 2026 form
Three riders reach Austria with the most consistent body of results from the last two completed weekends. Marquez turned Aragon and Misano into Grand Prix wins and took both Sprints. Bezzecchi started both Grands Prix from pole after setting circuit records. Acosta placed second in the Aragon Grand Prix, then dropped in performance at Misano.
Martin’s strongest supplied benchmark is from Silverstone, where he took pole and won the Sprint. Aprilia’s teams’ championship lead and British Sprint sweep reinforce its overall strength, while Fernandez’s Sunday victory gave Trackhouse a Grand Prix win with the same manufacturer.
Those results establish Marquez as the form favorite for Austria. The assessment is based on confirmed 2026 results, rather than historical Austrian winner data. He has won the past two Grands Prix and both corresponding Sprints, erasing a 102-point deficit across seven rounds.
Current evidence makes Bezzecchi the main qualifying threat. He has claimed consecutive poles with record laps, although his lap-one exit at Misano halted a weekend that had already included second place in the Sprint. Martin arrives level with Marquez after leading the championship before Misano, and Aprilia’s recent form keeps both factory riders firmly involved in the Austrian fight.
What comes next
The Austrian Grand Prix takes place from Friday, September 18 through Sunday, September 20, one week after the San Marino round on September 11 to 13.
It is round 15 of the scheduled 2026 campaign. Friday’s running offers the first direct comparison among Ducati, Aprilia and KTM at the Austrian manufacturer’s home venue. The Sprint follows on Saturday, with the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Espargaro will enter the field in place of Viñales, while Marquez starts the weekend chasing another win after completing his Misano double on September 13.
