Winners and losers from MotoGP’s unusual Austrian Grand Prix

The Austrian Grand Prix marked a shift from MotoGP’s established order, as a manufacturer that had been fighting for its survival just one-and-a-half years ago claimed a thoroughly deserved win.

The championship lead changed hands once again as track characteristics and tyres played a major role in deciding the outcome of the race, while both Ducati and Aprilia were left to rue underwhelming weekends from some of their proven riders. 

While the MotoGP field is already looking ahead to the Asia tour, there are still plenty of talking points to discuss from what was one of the most unusual races of the season.

Here are the winners and losers from the Austrian Grand Prix.

Ducati and Aprilia had been unbeaten in dry-weather races since the 2023 US GP, so commanding their duopoly has been in MotoGP’s current aero-heavy, 1000cc era. With their stranglehold over the championship stronger than ever, KTM had to produce something special to win on Sunday. 

Signs of a breakthrough had been emerging since the season resumed after the summer break, with KTM putting its engine woes behind and Acosta making further strides as a rider. Signs of real potential were shown on the Silverstone, Aragon and Misano weekends, but the pieces finally fell together at the Red Bull Ring as Acosta finally put KTM back on the top step of the podium.

From the outset in practice, it was clear that Acosta was the rider to beat over the weekend. Saturday brought what the Spaniard described as the “most embarrassing mistake” of his career, as he dumped his RC16 with just three laps to run.

Ironically, that crash – and another fall later in warm-up – appeared to reset Acosta’s approach, as he delivered one of the most mature and composed rides of his career to finally score the grand prix win that had eluded him for nearly three seasons. For KTM, this was a much-needed reward after everything it went through over the past 18 months.

Acosta was already being tipped as a serious threat for 2027, but after this result, his rivals will have to watch out for him much sooner as the 2026 season enters its final stages.

Loser: Ducati

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

The Red Bull Ring had been one of Ducati’s best tracks long before the Borgo Panigale marque became MotoGP’s benchmark. Since Spielberg rejoined the calendar in 2016, Ducati had been defeated only once at the Austrian venue.

However, past form mattered little this year as Ducati was reduced to the third-best manufacturer over the weekend. Whether in one-lap or race trim, the Desmosedici never clicked, allowing Aprilia to reclaim the lead in both riders’ and manufacturers’ standings.

Ducati riders could only point to Michelin’s stiffer rear carcass as the key difference, having also struggled when it was last used at Buriram and Goiania. Had it not been for Acosta’s sprint crash, Ducati would have ended the weekend without a podium.

It wasn’t just Marc Marquez who lacked speed, Fermin Aldeguer and Fabio di Giannantonio were also nowhere in the picture. Even Alex Marquez suffered a torrid weekend, suffering a bizarre crash in practice before again tumbling in the race while running outside the top 10.

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

The Austrian GP marked one of Jorge Martin’s defining weekends of the season, even though he ultimately fell short of beating Acosta on Sunday. 

His pole lap in qualifying was a timely reminder of the level he can reach when he is performing at his peak, as he extended Aprilia’s pole streak in 2026. 

In the sprint, he rediscovered his ‘Le Mans form’, charging through the pack after dropping to eighth in an opening lap tussle with Marc Marquez. The way he hung Marquez out to dry while repassing him was most certainly a retaliatory move, no matter what Martin said afterwards. MotoGP was robbed of a great duel between Martin and Acosta in the sprint, but after such an impressive comeback, the former was a deserving winner.

On Sunday, Martin fought against Bezzecchi in the early stages to establish his authority at Aprilia, before holding off Acosta for as long as he could. Victory was never on the cards for him, but he dealt Marquez a fairly substantial blow in the title race ahead of the Asian leg of the season.

With Bezzecchi still not fully recovered and lacking that edge, the Austrian GP strengthened Martin’s case as Aprilia’s lead title contender in 2026.

Loser: Alex Marquez

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

A week after returning to the podium for the first time since his injury, Alex Marquez endured a wretched weekend at the Red Bull Ring, crashing on all three days.

The incident on Friday was the most spectacular, as he hit the ground heavily while coming out of Turn 1. The Spaniard attributed the bizarre crash, which triggered a red flag, to a combination of a wheelie and locked brakes.

Things didn’t improve much on Saturday, by which point Ducati’s lack of competitiveness was evident, as he tumbled in qualifying and consigned himself to sixth on the grid.

The race day proved to be the lowest point of the weekend, with a poor start leaving him in the thick of the field. An unseen clash with team-mate Fermin Aldeguer – for which Aldeguer was penalised – didn’t help matters, and he finished the opening lap down in 14th place.

From there on, the younger Marquez was never really able to recover much ground and lost the front end of his bike on lap 13 while chasing Raul Fernandez for 12th. 

With Bezzecchi not putting a foot wrong and Ai Ogura back after injury, Ducati needed the Spaniard to get the best out of the package and take points off the Aprilias. Instead, he ended up as a weak link in Ducati’s line-up.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Following three difficult weekends, Francesco Bagnaia returned to the points at the Red Bull Ring, offering the first signs that he may be emerging from his latest slump. 

Friday Practice had suggested Austria would be no different to recent rounds, but Ducati changed the set-up overnight and helped Bagnaia feel more comfortable on the bike. The Italian wouldn’t reveal what alterations had been made, only saying that the team had taken a new approach with something it had tried before.

Whatever the change, Bagnaia suddenly found himself among the fastest Ducatis on the grid, coming through Q1 to qualify an impressive sixth, just half a tenth behind Alex Marquez. Even in the sprint, he didn’t fall down the order as he typically does, holding firm behind the younger Marquez.

On Sunday, he showed more glimpses of his pace, even challenging Marc Marquez for position at one stage. But brake issues ultimately hindered his performance and he crossed the finish line in eighth place, before being promoted to seventh when Aldeguer’s time penalty was applied. 

Loser: Raul Fernandez

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Raul Fernandez’s issues with the rear tyre haunted him again in Austria as he spent another weekend battling for the lower points-scoring positions. While team-mate Ogura was immediately up to pace and returned to action, Fernandez was left “angry” with himself as he failed to make it into Q2 for the first time since Austin in March.

Starting 13th on the grid in both races, Fernandez already had a steep hill to climb, but a double long-lap penalty in the sprint for jumping the start ended any hopes of a comeback.

On Sunday, Fernandez finally made a breakthrough on stop-and-go circuits, but felt it was too late by that point. Even with the second-fastest bike on the grid, he could make no headway, saying it was almost impossible to overtake around the Red Bull Ring. 

He found himself outgunned by the likes of Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini on less competitive machinery, finishing 20s down on race winner Acosta in 12th.

We want your opinion!

– The Motorsport.com Team

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com