In round three of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship in Austin, Texas, recent pace setter Marco Bezzecchi re-established himself as the current top dog in the global series, taking back the Championship lead from team-mate Jorge Martin. Once again taking the lead from the start, Bezzecchi took the point throughout, holding off a challenge first from Red Bull KTM’s Pedro Acosta and then former World Champ for Ducati Martin.
The success was a remarkable fifth in a row in Sunday races for Bezzecchi, dating back to a string of break-through efforts in late 2025. Bezzecchi actually started from the second row of the grid in fourth, serving a Steward’s penalty for controversially impeding World Champ Marc Marquez in Qualifying. Bezzecchi also suffered some aero damage to his tail section after bumping with Pedro Acosta’s KTM on the opening lap.
Back atop the points standings, it seems the pace of the works Aprilia’s is now established as the bench mark of current MotoGP coemption, and Marco Bezzecchi is making the most of the opportunity, shown celebrating with the strong Marshaling staff at Circuit of the Americans in Austin, Texas.
At the finish Bezzecchi had two seconds in hand from Martin, the winner of the previous day’s Tissot Sprint race and survivor of a frightening fall while celebrating on his cool off lap Saturday! Acosta cooked his spec Michelin rear on a warm but not crazy hot day and placed a further two and a half seconds back.
Sprint race winner on Saturday, Jorge Martin was second in the main event and earned the crowd’s respect by taking a cool off lap with the flag of the late American World Champ Nickey Hayden. Red Bull had a display at the Grand Prix celebrating Hayden’s title scored twenty years ago for Repsol Honda.
Fastest in the morning warm-up, Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth from the outset, right with the leaders, on his “A” Pertamina works Ducati, and held the spot to the finish – best of the six Desmos in the field, also earning fastest lap honors. “King of COTA” Mark Marquez, Ducati’s reigning World Champ, was nursing an injured right forearm (not to be confused with his oft repaired right shoulder and upper arm) after two falls on Friday and Saturday.
The busy bottom of the top ten in Texas produced lots of action, with Pecco Bagnaia (leading) in the thick of things. Here he holds ninth from Luca Marini, but the Honda pilot would eventually earn the spot.
Marquez served a long lap penalty early in the race, a remnant of his collision with Di Giannantonio early in Saturday’s Sprint race. The he fought his way up to take fifth, an improvement on recent form but no where near the dominant results predicted pre-season.
After serving a long lap penalty, Marc Marcquez (No. 93 Lenovo Ducati) pushed back up through the field, here is a good dice for fifth with his team-mate Pecco Bagnaia (No. 63) and the resurgent No. 23 Red Bull Tech 3 KTM of Enea Bastianini. After a rough weekend, Marquez would salvage fifth at a track where he has won seven previous times.
Trackhouse Aprilia’s Ai Ogura was solidly in the top ten but retired with a rare mechanical issue when looking set to challenge a fading Acosta.
While he did recent win a Saturday short Tissot Sprint race, Red Bull KTM’s popular Pedro Acosta is still looking to break through on Sunday – In Texas, we fought for first but wound up third.
With next month’s schedule Qatar event recently cancelled due to unrest in the middle east, the series now takes a hiatus prior to the start of the “real season” in Europe on home ground at Jerez, Spain in one month, April 24-26.
The much discussed battle between former World Champion Fabio Quartaro and reigning World Superbike Champ Toprak Razgatlioglu to best result on the new v-4 came sooner than expected, with the popular Turkish star earning his first MotoGP points in his third race, netting 15th after a good battle with Quartaro (leading) and his Prima Pramac team-mate Jack Miller (following).First lap of the Moto3 race, as the Red Bull KTMs of Alvaro Carpe and Valentin Perrone hold a slim lead from the CF Moto Aspar entry of Maximo Quiles. In a wild run to the line, Carpe would net third with Perrone fourth. Quiles placed second, confirming the importance of a strong effort in the Q sessions.The new Harley-Davidson supported “spec” Baggers World Championship made it’s debut in Texas, with No. 99 Oscar Gutierrez of Spain leading No. 60, new series points leader and race one winner Archie McDonald from Australia and No. 51, Brazil’s Eric Granado. No. 85, American veteran Jake Lewis, holds fourth in the image from Sunday morning’s second points event for the big twins.
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