The 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix won’t be remembered as a classic, as a combination of factors impacted the action at the Balaton Park Circuit.
But as Ducati scored its third win in five grands prix, it was still a significant weekend from the championship standpoint.
There were plenty of impressive performances up and down the field, while some riders left a lot more to be desired.
Here are the winners and losers from the Hungarian GP.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: MotoGP
There was no bigger winner from the Hungarian GP weekend than Marc Marquez. The Ducati rider was always going to find a way to return to the top step of the podium, but it was impressive how he was able to take a win in just his second race weekend after surgery.
Marquez was not convinced about his chances at the Balaton Park Circuit heading into Hungary, and had to manage his physical fitness and energy throughout the weekend. But he didn’t put a foot wrong at the 4.1km circuit, save for a minor crash at the beginning of Q2, to chalk up his 100th grand prix success.
The result wouldn’t have been possible if the Spaniard hadn’t regained his key advantage – his speed on left-hand corners. On an anti-clockwise layout, that was exactly what he needed to repeat his 2025 triumph.
Marquez is still lacking strength in his right shoulder, but one can now expect him to feature at the sharp end of the grid more often as he continues his recovery.
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
It wasn’t Jorge Martin’s finest hour in Hungary. While the 2024 champion wasn’t present to offer an explanation for his crash, Aprilia team boss Massimo Rivola suggested he was simply too ambitious and misjudged his braking into the opening right-hander. While the conditions played a big role in the incident, with riders complaining about Turn 1 being too slippery after recent resurfacing, Rivola argued Martin already knew what to expect at the first braking point.
Ultimately, the Spaniard was lucky to walk away from the crash without any injuries. The sporting consequences, however, were severe. On a day when Marquez claimed a crucial win for Ducati, Martin failed to score and took two other Aprilia riders with him. It wasn’t the kind of mistake expected from a world champion, especially now that he is in the thick of a title fight.
Aprilia had reasons to be worried, too. It had already been dealing with the fallout of the Catalan GP, where Fernandez and Martin came to blows while battling for the podium. Now, it must rein in Martin’s aggression while focusing on building a more consistent title campaign.
Iker Lecuona, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Iker Lecuona’s return to grand prix racing was remarkable in so many different ways. Despite his lack of experience on current MotoGP machinery – with bikes having changed significantly since his departure – Lecuona never looked out of place in Hungary.
He gradually improved his performance over the weekend, finding over 2.5s second between opening practice and qualifying. In the sprint, a poor start dropped him to P20, but he was able to fight back to finish 18th, just behind Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha.
Sunday, however, was when he really shone. After avoiding the Turn 1 crash, Lecuona picked off his rivals one after the other, and was already up to 10th on lap 5. His charge continued till the end of the race, and he overtook Jack Miller on the very final lap to snatch an excellent seventh place. With Fermin Aldeguer taken out in the opening lap incident, Lecuona ensured Gresini finished the race inside the points.
The Spaniard’s pace was so impressive that he was lapping only three tenths slower than third-placed Francesco Bagnaia on average, excluding the opening lap.
Loser: VR46 riders
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Photo by: Ferenc Isza / AFP via Getty Images
For the first time since last year’s Japanese GP, Fabio di Giannantonio failed to finish either of the two races in a weekend inside the top 10. While his usual one-lap speed was missing at Balaton Park, he qualified reasonably well in fourth and should have been a strong contender for a podium.
However, a poor opening lap dropped him down to ninth, before he lost another place to Tech3’s Enea Bastianini. It wasn’t another of his typical race start issues, with ‘Diggia’ rather losing time in the opening laps due to the way the bike was set up.
On Sunday, he was an innocent party in the opening lap melee, but was lucky to remount the bike and continue. His subsequent charge was one of the highlights of the race, but ultimately, the rider sitting third in the championship came away with just four points from the weekend.
On the other side of the garage, the picture was particularly grim for Franco Morbidelli, who endured his worst weekend in recent memory. The Italian was at a loss to explain his lack of pace, as he struggled to even match the returning Lecuona.
Early drama on Sunday elevated him to seventh, but he slumped to 14th by the finish after struggling on last year’s Ducati. He even joked that Cal Crutchlow was faster than him on occasion.
Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
While one may argue that Pedro Acosta missed out on a grand prix win yet again, it’s hard to fault the 22-year-old sensation when he is extracting every ounce of performance from the KTM – and then some more.
On Friday, he completely destroyed the competition with his single-lap pace, and was set to do the same again on Saturday until Marquez spoiled his party.
He didn’t stand any chance against Marquez in the sprint, but put up a much stronger fight on Sunday, building a significant lead in the first-thirds of the race. When Marquez passed him for the first time at the chicane, he immediately retaliated and snatched back the position, highlighting his racecraft again.
Marquez eased past him on the next lap, but Acosta comfortably secured second, finishing over 10 seconds clear of the other Ducati of Bagnaia.
One can only wonder how the race would have panned out if he had opted for the medium rear – the same as Marquez – but Acosta was adamant that it was the right choice.
Loser: Hungarian GP
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team, Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing, Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
If MotoGP’s first visit to Balaton Park was a lacklustre affair, then the 2026 Hungarian GP did little to change the reputation of the track. While the organisers expanded run-off areas at some corners after feedback from riders, partial resurfacing of the track didn’t go as expected, with Turn 1 being described as ‘riding on oil’.
The track layout itself continued to gather mixed opinions from riders. While some didn’t think there was anything fundamentally wrong with a start/stop configuration, others were more critical about a lack of overtaking opportunities and the over-use of chicanes.
Saturday’s sprint turned out to be a snorefest but the grand prix itself was much more entertaining, even after considering how the opening lap crash took out several contenders and left others out of position.
It’s no surprise that Balaton Park is now set to be dropped from the calendar, with efforts being made to tweak the Hungaroring for motorcycle racing. Whether the Hungarian GP will be present on MotoGP’s 2027 schedule remains to be seen.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– 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
