Pedro Acosta Won His First MotoGP Race in Austria as Jorge Martin Stretched His Title Lead to Twelve Points
Acosta recovered from crashes in the sprint and the morning warm-up to end KTM's wait of 1,449 days for a premier class victory at its home circuit.
Pedro Acosta won the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on 20 September 2026 for his first MotoGP victory, finishing 1.017 seconds ahead of Aprilia's Jorge Martin, with Marco Bezzecchi third.
Acosta started fifth and passed Martin for the lead on lap 9 of 28. The win came a day after the KTM rider crashed out of the lead of the sprint from pole position with three laps left, and after another fall in the Sunday morning warm-up. It ended a wait of 1,449 days for a KTM premier class win, dating back to Miguel Oliveira's victory in Thailand in 2022, and made Acosta the 126th different winner in the class.
"The first one is always special, and in front of so many Austrian fans," Acosta said. Martin, who inherited victory in Saturday's sprint, said he had tried all the way to the end but found battling Acosta difficult.
Ai Ogura was fourth for Trackhouse Aprilia. Reigning champion Marc Marquez, second in the sprint, finished fifth and 7.339 seconds behind as the leading Ducati after struggling with his brakes. Brad Binder was sixth and Francesco Bagnaia eighth.
Martin and Marquez arrived in Austria level on points, but Martin now leads on 306 to Marquez's 294, with Bezzecchi third on 264 and Acosta fourth on 234. Fifteen of the 22 rounds have been completed, and the series moves to the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi from 2 to 4 October.