Marco Bezzecchi
Michael Laverty thinks Marc Marquez won the Balaton Park Sprint Race at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix as he caught Pedro Acosta “napping” with an aggressive start.
Marquez converted his second pole position so far this year into his third Sprint Race win of the season so far on Saturday, after he beat Acosta by only 0.053 seconds at the end of Q2. But while a tiny margin separated them during qualifying, Acosta had no reply in the Sprint.
KTM rider Acosta crossed the finish line 1.548s behind Ducati ace Marquez, who is arguably now the favourite to win Sunday’s Hungarian GP despite him entering the weekend playing down his chances. Marquez has yet to win a Grand Prix this season, with a best finish of P4.
Total domination by Marc Marquez in the Balaton Park Sprint 💪 But who was your rider of the race?
Michael Laverty thinks Marc Marquez’s early pace in the Balaton Park Sprint surprised Pedro Acosta
Qualifying was arguably an upset, too, as Acosta had the pace but Marquez scored pole for the Hungarian GP after a late mistake from his Spanish compatriot opened the door in Q2. Marquez would not return the favour in the Sprint, as he won unchallenged beyond Lap 1.
READ MORE: Marc Marquez takes a dominant Balaton Park Sprint win over Pedro Acosta
A tidy launch allowed Marquez to lead Acosta into Turn 1, and the KTM star failed to find a way through on the first lap despite often gaining ground under braking. Marquez then put Acosta to the sword and immediately left the KTM rider running in a race of his own in P2.
Laverty does not think Acosta planned for Marquez to push his Ducati GP26 so hard and so early in the Balaton Park Sprint, given that it is not how the reigning MotoGP champion has raced this year. Yet Marquez upped the ante, and Acosta will now have to adapt on Sunday.
“He can up the ante, switch into another gear,” Laverty said on TNT Sports 2 (06/05, 14:37). “I don’t think there was any doubt. He played down his chances [and] bigged up Pedro’s.
“But the way he started on Lap 1, we haven’t seen that from him on the recent GP26 Ducati. It normally takes him a few laps. But he was ready to go from lights out, and [he showed Acosta] a clean pair of heels. Impressive.
“I think [Acosta] was expecting it to settle into a more comfortable rhythm in the early laps, but Marc dropped the hammer. And because we’ve come to expect that Marc takes a lap or two to get rid of the chatter – it didn’t happen today, he was off like a scolded cat.
“So, Pedro got caught napping a little bit. But he’ll know what to do tomorrow for 26 [laps]. He’ll be ready to come out swinging right from the lights go out.”
Marquez played down his chances ahead of the Hungarian GP weekend, as he only returned from injury last week at the Italian Grand Prix. Also, Marquez “gave up” with 10 laps to go at Mugello, as he did not feel his shoulder was ready owing to the muscle he lost while injured.
But Balaton Park is a car park compared to the glorious and challenging Mugello, set in the rolling Tuscan hills. So, Marquez’s lack of muscle in his shoulder after suffering from a nerve issue earlier this season is not as much of a hindrance at the Hungarian GP as it was in Italy.
Pulling away from Acosta as soon as he saw the chance to also allowed Marquez to manage his Michelin tyres as he pleased, rather than playing the early part of the race with a degree of caution. So, there was a lot of incentive for Marquez to be aggressive early for a change.
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