MARC MARQUEZ WINS CHAOTIC SPANISH GP SPRINT AFTER CRASHING IN HEAVY RAIN
MotoGP history made at Jerez! Marc Marquez takes his 17th sprint win in the first flag-to-flag Saturday race in 2026.
Marc Marquez pulled off a wild comeback to win a rollercoaster Spanish Grand Prix sprint. It was the first flag-to-flag sprint since the format started in 2023, and Marquez turned his first pole of the season into another Saturday win, though it certainly wasn’t straightforward.
He started strong, but things got hairy with five laps to go when heavy rain hit. Marquez crashed out of second, scrambled across the grass, and dashed into the pit lane for his wet-weather bike. He joined Pecco Bagnaia and Brad Binder in the swap, and when Binder made a mistake, the door cracked open for Marquez.
A gutsy pass on Bagnaia with three laps left put Marquez back out front. From there, he didn’t look back, stretching his lead to just over three seconds by the chequered flag.
Bagnaia, who started 15th in the dry, battled his way to his first sprint podium of the year, while Franco Morbidelli came from 18th to snag third for VR46.
Meanwhile, title leader Marco Bezzecchi had a nightmare from the start. A tear-off strip tangled things up, so he bogged off the line and dropped from fourth to 17th. He later swapped to wets but crashed out before the end. His Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin pulled in early with a technical problem.
Alex Marquez briefly grabbed the lead from his big brother, but the rain got him too; he crashed two laps later while leading.
At the start, Marc Marquez got off to a sharp launch, immediately taking the holeshot with the track still mostly dry. Alex wasted no time chasing him, passing Johann Zarco and cutting Marc’s early advantage. Marc played it safe as the weather turned nasty, but with six laps to go, Alex pounced for the lead at Turn 9, and almost instantly, Marc hit the deck at the last corner.
After a quick grass detour, Marc dived into the pits for wets. Bagnaia, Binder, Morbidelli, and Alex Rins followed. For a moment, Binder emerged as the leader with the rest still out on slicks, but those odds didn’t last.
Alex Marquez and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio stayed out on slicks a bit longer, but Alex crashed at Turn 8, and Di Giannantonio finally swapped bikes a lap later.
Fermin Aldeguer hung on with slicks while everyone else had already switched. Up front, Binder held the net lead, but a mistake at Turn 2 opened the door wide.
That put the Ducati factory pair Bagnaia and Marquez on top. Marc dived inside at Turn 9 to grab the lead, never looking back. That makes 17 career sprint wins for him and jumps him to fourth in the championship, now just 24 points from the top.
Binder hung on for fourth, Di Giannantonio salvaged fifth after his late stop, and Raul Fernandez took sixth for Trackhouse Aprilia. Fabio Quartararo was seventh for Yamaha, with Zarco in eighth and Luca Marini grabbing the last point for Honda.
Crashes piled up: Joan Mir (Honda), Bezzecchi, Lorenzo Savadori, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, and Pedro Acosta, although Acosta did remount to finish 12th.
Despite wiping out, Bezzecchi keeps the championship lead, just four points ahead of his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin.
CAREER OVER: FORMER GIANTS OFFENSIVE LINEMAN SHANE LEMIEUX ANNOUNCES HIS NFL RETIREMENT
After six seasons and five surgeries, offensive lineman Shane Lemieux has announced his retirement from the NFL at age 28.
Shane Lemieux, an NFL guard and Super Bowl champion, is stepping away from professional football at just 28 years old after multiple surgeries forced him to reconsider his future in the sport.
Drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Lemieux made a strong impression during his rookie season, appearing in 12 games and starting in nine of them.
Unfortunately, his time on the field was repeatedly interrupted by injuries. Having undergone five surgeries, he ultimately made the difficult decision to retire.
In a LinkedIn post, Lemieux shared his thoughts: “After six seasons, I’m announcing my retirement from the NFL. Coming out of the University of Oregon and being drafted by the Giants, I dreamed of a decade-long, All-Pro career. I believed it was within reach.
“But after so many surgeries and spending more time rehabbing than playing, my perspective changed. That’s why I’m stepping away, prioritising my health.
“Though I didn’t reach that goal, the lessons learned from injuries, being released, and fighting to return to the field mean more to me than any title ever could. The relationships made along the way have been the most valuable part of this journey.”
After four years with the Giants, Lemieux was let go following a third consecutive season on injured reserve. He later joined the New Orleans Saints during the 2024 offseason but didn’t make the final roster cuts.
In September 2025, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks practice squad and remained with the team through their recent Super Bowl victory earlier that year.
Injuries to his knee, toe, bicep, and other areas ultimately stalled his hopes for a long NFL career. Yet, Lemieux’s gratitude for the game he’s devoted his life to remains clear, as does his readiness to embrace what comes next beyond football.
HOW LEBRON’S 28-POINT MASTERCLASS PUT THE LAKERS 2-0 UP AGAINST HOUSTON’S ROCKETS
LeBron James dropped 28 points to lead the short-handed Lakers past the Rockets 101-94. L.A. now holds a 2-0 first-round lead.
LeBron James put up 28 points, grabbed eight boards, and handed out seven assists to push the Lakers past the Rockets, 101-94. That win gives LA a 2-0 advantage in their first-round playoff series.
Even with Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) sidelined, Marcus Smart stepped up with 25 points, including five out of seven from deep, and Luke Kennard tacked on 23 more, knocking down three threes.
Kevin Durant, back from a knee bruise and missing Game 1, finished with 23 points for Houston. But he turned the ball over nine times and managed only three points after halftime.
Alperen Sengun kept Houston in it with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jabari Smith Jr. added 18, and Amen Thompson chipped in 16 points plus nine assists.
The Rockets got off to a solid start, leading 16-12 in the first quarter. Then the Lakers flipped the script, closing the quarter with a 9-0 run and jumping ahead, 33-26.
Durant looked just fine, logging 12 minutes and dropping 11 points in the opening quarter. Meanwhile, Smart and Kennard torched Houston from outside, hitting five threes between them.
By the second, the Lakers had stretched the lead to 46-31, but Durant rallied the Rockets with a 17-3 spurt that trimmed the gap to 49-48. At halftime, Durant had already scored 20 (shooting 6-for-7), but the Lakers still led, 54-51.
Houston grabbed the lead for a moment in the third, but LA responded with a quick 13-4 burst. The highlight? A jaw-dropping reverse dunk from 41-year-old James, who left Durant in the dust. After that, Durant barely got a shot off in the third, missing his only attempt, and the Rockets went cold, getting outscored 21-17. The Lakers headed into the fourth up by seven.
Josh Okogie cut it close with a three-pointer midway through the fourth, narrowing the score to 85-82, but Houston never got any closer. With LA ahead 97-92, Durant’s last turnover led straight to a fierce James dunk. After that, Kennard closed things out at the free-throw line.
Now, the series heads to Houston for Game 3 on Friday.
