The first penalty of the 2026 MotoGP season has been given out at the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand. This happened during the opening weekend of racing, before the big Sunday race.

Italian rider Michele Pirro has become the first rider in 2026 to receive a grid penalty. He is riding for the Gresini Ducati Team as a temporary replacement rider because his team-mate, Fermín Aldeguer, is injured and cannot ride this weekend.

Pirro was taking part in a practice session on Friday. During the session, he was riding in front of his team-mate Álex Márquez while Márquez was trying to do a fast lap. Pirro was going slowly on the main racing line and blocked Márquez. This stopped Márquez from going as fast as he wanted on that lap.

The race officials, called the stewards, watched the situation and decided that Pirro had impeded (blocked) his team-mate. For this, they gave him a three-place grid penalty. That means in the main Sunday race, Pirro will start three places further back on the starting grid than where he qualifies.

Even though Pirro blocked Álex, it did not affect him too much. Márquez still rode a good time and finished sixth fastest in the session. Because of this, he goes straight into Q2 qualifying (the second and more important qualifying session).

Pirro’s penalty is the first of the whole 2026 season so far. It came before any of the actual races were even held. A grid penalty at the start of a season is unusual, and many fans and teams are now talking about it.

The season has just begun, and this incident is one of the first big talking points at the 2026 MotoGP Thai Grand Prix.