First Hungarian Grand Prix in 33 years, first at Balaton Park
Marc Marquez (centre), winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix final race, Pedro Acosta (left), who came in second, and Marco Bezzecchi (right), who came in third. ©MotoGP.com
The 14th round of the MotoGP, the Hungarian Grand Prix, was held for the first time at the Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary from August 22nd to 24th. This was the first time the Hungarian Grand Prix had been held in 33 years, since 1992. At the time, it was held at the Hungaroring near Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
As this is the first time the event is being held at the Balaton Park Circuit, it will be the first time for almost all riders to ride, although the Ducati MotoGP team have been conducting private tests with production bikes during the summer break.
The Hungarian Grand Prix was another weekend dominated by Marc Márquez (Ducati), who took pole position and also won Saturday’s sprint race, with Fabio Di Gianantonio (Ducati) second and Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) third, giving Ducatis a sweep of the top three places.
Ai Ogura (Aprilia), a rookie in the MotoGP class and the only Japanese rider, started from the back of the pack in 21st place and finished in 15th place.
Before the start of Sunday’s race, Di Gianantonio, who was starting from third place on the first row, had a problem with his car, forcing him to pit in during the warm-up lap and change cars, meaning he had to start from the pit lane.
After the start, Marc Márquez was in the lead going into the first corner, but made contact with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), who had started in second place, at the second corner, causing him to fall back, with Bezzecchi then taking the lead. Behind him, Enea Bastianini (KTM), who was running in fourth place, crashed and was forced to retire.
On the third lap, Bezzecchi maintained his lead, with Morbidelli in second and Marc Márquez in third. On the fifth lap, Marc Márquez passed Morbidelli to move into second place.
Marc Márquez gradually closed the gap to Bezzecchi, and on lap 11, he overtook Bezzecchi under braking for Turn 1. Marc Márquez finally took the lead, with Bezzecchi dropping back to second place. At this point, Pedro Acosta (KTM) had overtaken Morbidelli to move up to third place.
Acosta closed the gap to Bezzecchi, and by lap 15, the gap was less than 0.2 seconds. On lap 16, Acosta passed Bezzecchi under braking for Turn 1, moving up to second place. Bezzecchi had lost positions in the second half of the race, just as he had done in the previous race, the Austrian Grand Prix. At this point, Marc Márquez was almost alone in the lead, with a three-second gap between him and Acosta. The top three were all running alone.
Jorge Martin (Aprilia) made a fierce comeback from behind. The defending champion, who had missed most of the first half of the season due to injury, started from 16th place on the sixth row, but worked his way up to fifth, and then passed Morbidelli with five laps remaining to move up to fourth. At this point, he was more than two seconds behind Bezzecchi in third place. It was difficult to catch up and get into the podium, but it was still an impressive comeback.
Marc Márquez won the race with a safe and secure victory. At the inaugural Balaton Park race, he took pole position, the sprint race, and the final race. This marks Marc Márquez’s seventh consecutive win. Acosta came in second. Bezzecchi came in third, marking his fifth podium of the season and his third consecutive podium since the Czech GP.
Martin came in fourth, a new personal best result of the season. The Hungarian Grand Prix was Martin’s fourth race of the season, but he seems to be returning from injury and adapting well to the Aprilia. Luca Marini (Honda) came in fifth, a personal best result with Honda.
Ogura started from the back of the pack in 21st place, but steadily improved his position to finish in 11th place and earn points.
The 15th round of the season, the Catalan Grand Prix, will be held at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit in Spain from September 5th to 7th.
