MotoGP: Key numbers and facts from the inaugural Balaton Park race
The inaugural race at the Balaton Park Circuit saw six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez saw clinch his tenth victory of the season. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers some key facts and numbers from the Grand Prix of Hungary.
4.314s - That was the margin separating race winner Marc Marquez and second-placed Pedro Acosta. The Spaniard overtook Marco Bezzecchi on Lap 16 to take over second place, and he was 2.8s away from the championship leader at that point.
Although he managed to fractionally reduce the gap initially, he was unable to keep up with Marquez in the dying stages of the 26-lap race.
4.404s - While the podium finishers were separated by several seconds as they crossed the finish line, there was a close battle behind them. Jorge Martin, who secured his best result for Aprilia at the Balaton Park Circuit was only 4.404s ahead of tenth-placed Fabio Quartararo as the chequered flag fell after 26 lap of racing.
Great comeback - Pedro Acosta displayed eye-catching pace in the early stages of the Balaton weekend. However, things got complicated for the KTM factory rider on Saturday when he suffered a huge crash in qualifying and finished last in the Sprint following another visit into the gravel trap.
The Spaniard then got a great start at Sunday's Balaton race to find himself fourth at the end of the opening lap. Having overtaking Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi later on, he finishes second, recording his best MotoGP result since he was also second in Indonesia last year. His result marked his seventh MotoGP podium and his second of th season along with Brno.
Positive weekend - Hot on the heels of his impressive result on Saturday, Luca Marini finished fifth at Sunday's Grand Prix of Hungary. This marked the best Marini's best result since having joined Honda last year as well as his best resut since he was thid in Qatar.
Worst result - Francesco Bagnaia endured a tough weekend at the Balaton Park Circuit. The two-time MotoGP champion finished ninth at the Hungarian track, recording his second-worst result so far this season after France when he finished in P16.
The Turin-born rider finds himself in third place in the drivers' standings, but the gap to his team-mate Marc Marquez has grown to 228 points after the 14th round of the season.
Outside the top ten - Alex Marquez started the race from P14 on the grid after serving a grid drop penalty. The Spanish rider's weekend then got even worse after crashing in the early stages of the 26-lap race. Although he was able to rejoin the action, he finished down in P14 which is best worst result across the line so far this year.
Despite his tough weekend at the brand-new Balaton Park, Alex Marquez managed to cling on to his second place in the drivers' standings, but he is now a whopping 175 points behind his brother Marc.
