MotoGP: After a titanic opener in Thailand, we’re heading west for our much-awaited return to Brazil – with a first-time Championship leader.
Caught your breath yet? After a long winter of waiting, the season opener in Thailand certainly didn’t disappoint, with two stunning showdowns opening our account for 2026. Now we’re off to Brazil for the first time in more than two decades, racing in Goiânia for the first time in even longer, and with a first time Championship leader in Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). We have a home hero, a new pecking order (so far!) and so many unknowns up and down the grid that we don’t want to call it. But if Buriram was unpredictable enough, Brazil could prove even more so as the 22-rider field gear up to take on a venue that’s completely new to each and every one of them.
LEADING THE CHARGE: ACOSTA & KTM
Controversial? For some. But what a debut Tissot Sprint win that was for Acosta in Thailand. A no inches given, fairing-bashing head-to-head between the #37 and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) was an unbelievable way to begin proceedings in 2026, and after Acosta backed his scintillating Saturday outing up with another gutsy effort to a podium on Sunday, he’s World Championship leader and spearheads the MotoGP field heading to Brazil. It wasn’t the Sunday victory Acosta craves, but it was a weekend which proved serious steps have been made compared to this time last season. Could that first 25-pointer arrive in Goiânia? That’s the question we’re all asking about the early title frontrunner.
On the other side of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing box, Brad Binder also enjoyed a positive stint in Thailand. Acosta took much of the KTM limelight, but the South African’s double top seven means he’s P6 in the championship going to Round 2. That will give Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales even more hunger for this weekend. The latter, who showed stand-out promise at the Sepang Test, suffered a real low-key weekend in Buriram, with Bastianini picking up a P12 to ensure some points were on offer for Guenther Steiner’s squad. With Acosta leading the championship and Binder finding some form, there’s clearly pace in the RC16 for the two Tech3 team’s MotoGP winners to extract.
ARISE, APRILIA
They’d threatened levelling up during pre-season, but delivering the goods in a Grand Prix setting is a different ball game – and come Sunday afternoon, Bezzecchi and Aprilia were unstoppable. Acosta may lead the championship, but leaving Thailand, there was a real sense that one factory have bridged the gap to Ducati. Maybe even more than just bridged it?
It’s early days to call it, but at a track where Marc Marquez and Ducati cleaned up one year prior, Bezzecchi was the outstanding rider. The #72 slipped up in the Sprint, but a lap record pole position and a Sunday cruise to P1, coupled with Raul Fernandez’s (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) double podium, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) looking much more like his 2024 title-winning self, and Ai Ogura’s (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) Grand Prix top five, meant the Noale camp had a ball in Buriram. The quartet are P2, P3, P4, and P5 in the standings heading to Brazil. So now, it’s all about trying to back up Thailand’s success on unfamiliar territory – for all.
DUCATI ON A BOUNCE BACK MISSION
Buriram is certainly not what the reigning champions had on the menu for Round 1 – nor was it what many expected to happen. But that’s so often MotoGP. And while they’re currently down after losing their ridiculously impressive consecutive podium streak of 88 in a row, Ducati are certainly far from out and bouncing back will be the mission in Brazil. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) lands in South America as the Ducati frontrunner in the championship and the Italian radiated positivity – while also lamenting bad luck – in Thailand, so maybe fortunes change in Goiânia?
That’s what reigning MotoGP king Marc Marquez will be hoping for. An unlucky, unusual rear tyre puncture cost the #93 a podium shot on Sunday in Thailand, so the seven-time World Champion kickstarts his Brazil visit 23 points adrift of his Buriram Sprint rival Acosta. No one is counting the World Champion out though (we’ve watched the sport before, don’t worry), especially on a level playing field this weekend. At new tracks too, Marc Marquez’s record is second to none. Although Bezzecchi at Buddh was quite something to watch…
On the other side of the red garage, lack of front-end feeling and differing conditions to the Test blighted what looked set to be a bright weekend for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in Thailand. Both the Italian and last year’s runner-up, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), had weekends to put behind them – especially the latter, who walked away from the Chang International Circuit with zero points compared to Pecco’s eight. Fermin Aldeguer, now confirmed to return, will hope to slot back in with their learnings already processed and find a few answers waiting for him as he gets back in the fold at BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP.
Behind Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez in the championship, meanwhile, it’s Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), who has shown some solid flashes of speed in pre-season and Thailand. A special weekend arrives for the rider who has Brazilian roots, and the #21 will be craving a podium challenge to make it a weekend to remember.
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MOREIRA ARRIVES TO HOME SHORES
Speaking of, a very warm welcome is promised to our home hero Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) this weekend, with the MotoGP rookie landing in Brazil as a points finisher in his first attempt. It was a weekend that quietly impressed. Now, with the home crowd on side and no one else having track knowledge on a MotoGP bike in Goiânia, more points are certainly on offer for Moreira as a special weekend awaits for Brazil’s #11.
BUILDING UP
It was a case of more bad luck for Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) in Sunday’s Thai encounter after an issue stopped the 2020 World Champion from bagging a healthy points haul. Mir was HRC’s leading light during Round 1, but a top 10 for teammate Luca Marini, points for Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) AND the aforementioned Moreira meant it was a decent start for HRC – but not enough, based on their own adjusted aims for 2026. MotoGP’s most successful factory aren’t where they want to be just yet, but there continues to be significant progress. Mir’s Sunday performance demonstrated that, so maybe Brazil can offer more? Certainly, no one else on the grid arrives with any more knowledge of the track – which could prove helpful for those looking to develop.
SEARCHING FOR MORE
That’s definitely true of Yamaha. The new V4-powered YZR-M1 era hasn’t begun as smoothly as they would have liked, but there were positives – and now it’s a venue no one else has dialled in. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP duo of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins got points on the board in Thailand, and Toprak Razgatlioglu put together about as quality a weekend as he and Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP could have asked for. The rookie was right in the mix with the experienced runners, despite absolutely everything being new to him. His teammate Jack Miller pushed on and then dropped back but put more miles on the clock as they look to learn and improve. Results will likely not be the focus for the Brazilian GP – but maybe a new circuit can bring the Yamahas closer to the frontrunners.
From Thailand’s terrific opener, we’re landing back in brilliant Brazil for Round 2. As we look ahead to the three days on track, we really couldn’t tell you how the script will play out – just the way we like it. Brazil, are you ready?
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