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Global Motorsport • Independent Edition
The Paddock Post
Countback Edition • Red Bull Ring Friday • 18 September 2026 • No. 014
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Lead Story • MotoGP
Márquez Was 102 Points Down. He Leads the Championship on Countback.
A perfect 34-point weekend at Misano wiped out the last of a deficit that looked like a season-ender in May — and the two men tied at the top go again at the Red Bull Ring today.
There is no polite way to describe what has happened to the 2026 MotoGP championship. In the spring Marc Márquez was 102 points behind Jorge Martín, a gap that gets written up as a title race for politeness and filed under arithmetic by everyone who can count. At Misano he took the sprint and the Grand Prix, banked all 34 points on offer, and the two of them left Italy locked together on 274. Márquez is the championship leader because he has won five Grands Prix this season and Martín has won one — the tiebreak, not the tally.
“It feels unreal,” Márquez said afterwards. “But never give up, I will push until the end — scoring 34 points in Misano means a lot.” He was careful to add the qualifier that his summer has earned: he is “fighting against very good riders, Martín and Bezz,” and at this pace a mistake is expensive. Marco Bezzecchi, who went into the weekend third and very much in it, crashed out on lap one and is now 33 back on 241.
Which brings everyone to Austria, a round that has moved from its usual August slot to today's date and arrives with the title fight at its tightest point of the year. Practice ran this morning; qualifying and the sprint are tomorrow, the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Eight rounds remain after this one. Nothing about a points-tied championship with a countback leader survives contact with a Red Bull Ring weekend unchanged.
The Paddock Post wire
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Also Leading • Formula 1
Antonelli Wins Madrid, Takes an Eighth, and Leaves Everyone Else Doing Subtraction
Eighty-one points clear with nine rounds to run, and the next one is a Grand Prix on a Saturday.
The Madring's first Formula 1 race went to the driver who has won most of them. Kimi Antonelli's Spanish Grand Prix win was his eighth of a season that stopped being explicable some time around Monaco, and it puts him on 292 points to George Russell's 211. Lewis Hamilton is third on 191, Lando Norris fourth on 186. Mercedes lead the constructors' table on 503 to Ferrari's 358.
Fourteen rounds are done and nine remain, which is 233 points still available — enough, on paper, for several people. In practice the argument in the paddock has quietly shifted from whether Antonelli wins it to where. Baku is next, and it will not behave: the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been moved off Sunday to avoid a national day of mourning, so qualifying runs on Friday afternoon and the race goes at 15:00 local on Saturday 26 September. A street circuit, an unfamiliar rhythm, and a championship leader who does not need to take risks.
The Paddock Post wire
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Around the Paddock
Formula 1 • Calendar
The postponed Bahrain Grand Prix will be run at Sepang
F1 returns to Malaysia for the first time since 2017. The round pushed back from its April slot amid continued conflict in the Middle East has been rehoused at Sepang on 2-4 October, keeping the Bahrain Grand Prix name.
WRC • Chile
Solberg wins in Chile and Toyota seal a record-equalling tenth title
Oliver Solberg took his first win since Monte Carlo by 16.6s as a penultimate-stage tyre change cost Elfyn Evans over two minutes and dropped him to fifth. Toyota's manufacturers' crown was settled the same afternoon.
WRC • Standings
Evans still leads, but the cushion is down to 17 points
Sami Pajari is 17 behind and Solberg 21, with two rounds left — Rally Italia Sardegna on 1-4 October and the Saudi Arabian finale in November. Chile turned a comfortable run-in into a three-way one.
NASCAR • The Chase
Bristol under the lights, and the Round of 16 is running out of races
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is the third of ten playoff races and goes green just after 7:30pm ET on Saturday. Christopher Bell took Darlington, Ryan Preece took Daytona, and the bubble has not settled since.
WEC • Hypercar
Toyota carry a nine-point lead into their own back yard
Toyota are on 140 to BMW's 131 with Ferrari 26 back on 114, and the drivers' table has two crews tied on 75. The 6 Hours of Fuji starts at 11:00 local on 27 September — 02:00 UTC, an early alarm for Europe.
IndyCar • Off-season
Palou closes the book on another one at Laguna Seca
The championship was settled before the finale and the series is now dark until March. It leaves the American open-wheel conversation to the silly season, which has rarely needed the encouragement.
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Championship Watch — MotoGP, after Misano
| 1 M. Márquez Ducati Lenovo | 274 |
| 2 J. Martín Aprilia Racing | 274 |
| 3 M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing | 241 |
| 4 F. Di Giannantonio Pertamina VR46 | 223 |
| 5 P. Acosta Red Bull KTM | 209 |
| 6 A. Ogura Trackhouse Aprilia | 203 |
Márquez leads on countback — five Grand Prix wins to Martín's one.
F1 Drivers: Antonelli 292 • Russell 211 • Hamilton 191 • Norris 186 • Leclerc 167 • Verstappen 145
F1 Constructors: Mercedes 503 • Ferrari 358
WEC Hypercar: Toyota 140 • BMW 131 • Ferrari 114
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Coming Up — all times UTC
| MotoGP Austrian GP Qualifying — Red Bull Ring | Sat 19 Sep, 08:50 |
| MotoGP Austrian GP Sprint — Red Bull Ring | Sat 19 Sep, 13:00 |
| NASCAR Bass Pro Shops Night Race — Bristol | Sat 19 Sep, 23:30 |
| MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix — Red Bull Ring | Sun 20 Sep, 12:00 |
| F1 Azerbaijan GP Qualifying — Baku | Fri 25 Sep, 12:00 |
| F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix — Baku | Sat 26 Sep, 11:00 |
| WEC 6 Hours of Fuji — Fuji Speedway | Sun 27 Sep, 02:00 |
| WRC Rally Italia Sardegna — Sardinia | Thu 1 Oct, 08:00 |
| MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix — Motegi | Sun 4 Oct, 06:00 |
| F1 Bahrain Grand Prix — Sepang, Malaysia | Sun 4 Oct, 07:00 |
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The Paddock Post • F1, MotoGP, IndyCar, WEC, NASCAR & WRC.
Headlines, standings and fan pulse compiled 18 September 2026. Live countdowns run on the web edition.
Sources: Formula1.com, MotoGP.com, FIA WEC, WRC.com, IndyCar.com, NASCAR.com, RacingNews365, Crash.net, DirtFish, RACER, Sky Sports F1, The Race, Motorsport.com & wire reports.
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