Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1546388
to the leader and attack after 10 laps, open up a bigger gap and manage the advantage. We're in the championship fight." Acosta delivered one of his strongest rides of the season for second, while Bezzecchi com - pleted the podium after starting from pole. Alex Marquez fin- ished fourth, with championship leader Martin fifth. "It's true that Marc's mistake at the start affected me, but I also made an error between turns two and three," Alex Marquez said. "When I shifted into third gear and opened the throttle, the bike didn't respond. I thought something had broken, but then I realized I was still in second gear. Two or three riders passed me there, but it is what it is. In a situation like that, when you're so close to the rider in front, you don't really know how to react, and by the time you do, it's too late. But apart from that, we didn't have great pace either. Maybe we could have fought with [Marco] Bezzecchi, but both came on lap six at turn 15 when Marquez passed Bezzecchi. The Aprilia rider briefly fought alongside him down the back straight, but Acosta then swept past Bezzecchi to take second with a superb move. Acosta remained glued to Marquez through the middle stages, with the pair setting identical lap times on lap 10 as Bezzecchi stayed close in third. But Marquez gradually increased his pace, setting successive lap records to finally break clear and secure the 25 points. "The key was once again the first corner," Marquez said. "I got into the lead again, but I made a mistake because I forgot to disengage the rear ride-height device, and when I came out of turn one, it was still engaged, so I was super slow through turn two. Two riders passed me, and that made everything more dif - ficult. From that point on, I tried to build my pace. There was a good fight in the opening laps, then I tried to manage the gap VOLUME 63 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 1, 2026 P83 Espargaro. "The messages at the moment are safety ones. And appearing in a place like a long straight, that's fine. Maybe the rider gets used to it, and in the short term we can get some more information. At the moment, as soon as I tried on the straights, it's not too bad." MILLER EDGING TOWARD SUPERBIKE SWITCH Jack Miller is edging closer to a factory Yamaha seat in the World Superbike paddock for 2026 after it was confirmed Moto2 star Izan Guevara will take over his Mo- toGP place at Pramac Yamaha. "I feel like I've still got quite a bit of racing left in me. And I feel like I'm still getting better. So we'll wait and see where our decision lies and what we're going to do," he said. "Obviously all the seats here are full, so looking over at Superbike. We'll try to get some- thing solid over there that we can be competitive with and try to build on." Could a role as Yamaha MotoGP test rider also be in- cluded in the Superbike package? "It's not out of the equation, that's for certain," he said. "If I'm going over there, my goal is to become the best Superbike rider I can become." Briefly... (Above) Aragon agony for Francesco Bagnaia with another Sunday crash. The end of the year and a switch to Aprilia can't come soon enough. (Left) Fabio Quartararo (20) was a shadow of the rider who five years ago won the World Championship. A DNF and 18th scorecard will be viewed by Yamaha as simply not good enough.