MotoGP: 100 not out: Marquez takes milestone win with Balaton masterclass
MotoGP: It’s 100 GP victories for the #93 as he and Acosta go head-to-head in a Balaton battle after early drama for Aprilia and more.
Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi, and now Marc Marquez. A tonne of talent. A tonne of Grand Prix victories to his name. Finally, after another lengthy injury comeback, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) notched up his 100th win across all classes with a masterclass at Balaton Park. The reigning World Champion completed the weekend triple in style, and while the winning gap over Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was comfortable, the Spaniards treated us to a spellbinding battle on Sunday afternoon. Third place went to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the Italian collects a third P3 trophy on the bounce, while huge drama unfolds at Turn 1 on the opening lap between championship front-runners.
MARTIN, BEZ, DIGGIA, FERNANDEZ & ALDEGUER DOWN
Into the tight Turn 1, Martin was out of shape as the front end of his Aprilia seemed to lock into the braking zone, and subsequently, five riders were down, including fellow Aprilia Racing star and title leader Bezzecchi. The championship leader was first to be collected, and then began the domino effect as Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) were left helpless. All five riders on the floor at Turn 1, with only Di Giannantonio able to get back up and continue.
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Both Martin and Bezzecchi headed to the medical centre for a check-up, but thankfully, they were reported to have not sustained any visible fractures. In terms of a penalty, Martin was handed a double Long Lap for his next Grand Prix for the crash.
MM93 vs PA37
Having led, Marquez was then attacked at Turn 5 on Lap 2. This is what Acosta needed to do, as the #37 barged his way through on his compatriot to lead in Hungary. And after a few laps, Acosta stretched his lead to over a second.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) benefited from the Turn 1 mess; the Italian was a relatively lonely P3, with Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) leading a pack 2.6s away from the final podium spot. The Australian had Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR), Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), and Iker Lecuona (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) for close company, as we saw Bastianini and Mir come into contact on the exit of Turn 1.
Mir was almost down twice, and the incident saw Bastianini receive a Long Lap penalty. That fed ‘The Beast’ back out in P11, one place behind Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP).
Up front, Marquez was purring. That Medium rear Michelin had warmed up nicely now, and the margin came down from as high as 1.6s to 0.7s by the start of Lap 10. Fast forward to Lap 13, and the gap was now 0.3s after successive fastest laps of the Grand Prix. Then it was 0.2s on Lap 14.
And on Lap 14, the blue touch paper was lit. Acosta vs Marquez. The battle we’d been waiting for. The #93 attacked at Turn 9, and while it stuck through Turn 10, Acosta cut underneath the reigning World Champion to retake the lead.
Then, Marquez attacked again at Turn 15. Acosta toughed it out around the outside, which became the inside at Turn 16, and the KTM star blocked the attempted overtake from the seven-time MotoGP World Champion.
On the next lap, it was time to launch a bid for the lead at Turn 9 again for Marquez. And this time, despite Acosta’s best efforts, it was a pass that stuck. The lead was Marquez’s on Lap 15 and immediately, the Ducati rider began galloping to a one-second lead.
MM93 PULLS THE PIN
By Lap 20 of 26, the gap crept up to 1.6s and on said lap, Marquez fired home the fastest lap of the race. A 1:38.313, half a second faster than Acosta, and this was a sure sign that Marquez had plenty enough in the tank to earn his 100th Grand Prix victory.
And that’s how it turned out. Thinking of a win pre-weekend? No chance, said Marc Marquez. But Balaton birthed a treble. No win since Misano 2025. A long wait for that 100th Grand Prix triumph. Wait no more. Marquez clinched a first win of the season, Ducati’s 100th, and it’s a win that sends a signal to the rest that the reigning World Champion is back.
Acosta could have done no more. It’s not the win, but the #37 was the only rider to get close to Marquez in Hungary, and it’s a big 20 points in the championship with the top three all either not scoring or picking up little on Sunday, in the case of Di Giannantonio. Bagnaia’s P3 is his third rostrum in a row, another decent Sunday outing for the Italian.
THE BALATON POINT SCORERS
Ogura’s late race pace shone through again, the Japanese rider overtaking Marini in the closing stages to earn P4, with the Italian earning an equal-best HRC result in P5. Moreira’s great run of form continues, P6 is the Brazilian rookie’s best MotoGP result to date, and a shoutout to seventh place Lecuona. Standing in for the injured Alex Marquez, a P7 is a phenomenal effort.
Miller ended the Grand Prix in P8, that’s the Aussie’s first top 10 of the year, as Bastianini – after two Long Laps – and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completed the top 10. P11 for Razgatlioglu is the Turk’s best MotoGP result so far, as Di Giannantonio comes back from that Turn 1, Lap 1 incident to collect what could prove to be some very precious points in P12. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), and Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) were the final point scorers in Hungary.
NEXT UP: BRNO
He’s back. And as we head to Brno for the Czech GP in a couple of weeks, there are plenty of stories to get stuck into. See you there for more relentless MotoGP action.
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