Aprilia Racing
The weekend on the Circuit of the Americas comes to a close with a historic result for Aprilia Racing, taking their second consecutive one-two.
Marco Bezzecchi, starting from the fourth spot on the grid due to a penalty from Q2, was the protagonist of an extraordinary race. After contact during the first lap which damaged the rear wing of his RS-GP26, the Italian rider moved into the lead at the end of the first lap, maintaining the position all the way to the chequered flag. With this result, he takes his fifth win in a row, becoming the third rider of the modern era to manage the feat after Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez.
For Bezzecchi this is also his sixth victory in the top class with Aprilia Racing, in addition to being the first rider to win the first three Grand Prix races of a season – an achievement that had not been accomplished since 2014. The Italian rider is now the first in the modern MotoGP era to win five consecutive GP races, remaining in the lead from the first to the last lap. In fact, Bezzecchi rode the last five GP races entirely in the lead and, with today’s result, now has a total of 121 laps in the lead, surpassing the previous record held by Jorge Lorenzo (103).
Completing the one-two was Jorge Martín, who rode a solid race to finish second. This is the Spanish rider’s second consecutive podium in a long race with Aprilia Racing and his second podium finish of the weekend, after winning the sprint race on Saturday.
This is Aprilia Racing’s eleventh victory in the top class – their second in Austin after Maverick Viñales’ win in 2024 – and their fifth consecutive. The manufacturer from Noale has now also taken their third one-two in the top class and, for the first time in their history, two one-two finishes in a row. With today’s victory, Aprilia Racing now has 305 wins in World Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing.
MARCO BEZZECCHI
“Saturday I made a mistake that I should have avoided, but the team was very close to me. Today it was important to ride a good race. I’m extremely happy and thrilled. I have been dreaming about doing well on this track that I’ve always liked for a long time, but I had never managed to finish the way I wanted to until now. Riding such a great race was incredible.”
JORGE MARTÍN
“I am truly happy and extremely grateful to Aprilia. I gave my all and that makes me very proud. Saturday, I achieved the goal of winning the sprint race and I gave it my all on Sunday as well. Marco was incredible: I tried to make up ground behind him, but I was pushing too hard physically and I had to slow down in the last three laps. I have always struggled on this track, so to be on the podium here after my absence last year is fantastic.”
MASSIMO RIVOLA
“It was a memorable Sunday for Aprilia Racing, with two truly outstanding riders and an extremely competitive bike. I am very pleased with the demonstration of the synergy between the work carried out in Noale and on track. Clearly, all of this does not reduce our drive — on the contrary, it gives us even more motivation to continue developing the bike. What happened today is something historic, destined to go down in the record books. However, we still need to keep improving, because what happened to Ai Ogura is difficult to accept. I’m very sorry for him, for Justin Marks and Davide Brivio of the Trackhouse MotoGP Team. Today there was the chance to see three Aprilias on the podium and, when these opportunities arise, you have to take them.”
Ducati Lenovo
The Ducati Lenovo Team tackled the final day of the Grand Prix of the United States at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas. Marc Márquez finished the race in fifth position, while Francesco Bagnaia was tenth at the flag.
Márquez got a great start from sixth place on the grid, moving up two positions. After dropping down to seventh, he then served his long-lap penalty and rejoined in eleventh. Marc then made his way back to fifth place, which he defended up to the finish line. Bagnaia stayed in touch with the group battling for the podium while maintaining a good pace, before starting to lose ground in the second half of the encounter. In the final stages, Pecco struggled with grip and eventually finished tenth.
As the third Grand Prix of the season draws to a close, Marc Márquez is fifth in the standings with 45 points. Francesco Bagnaia is ninth, 20 points behind his teammate. The Ducati Lenovo Team is fourth in the teams’ classification (70 points), while Ducati is second in the constructors’ championship (69 points).
The Ducati Lenovo Team will make its European debut of the season on April 24th, for the opening day of practice for the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Grand Prix of Spain at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 5th
“Unfortunately we paid the price for yesterday’s mistake. An long-lap penalty in MotoGP, especially early on in the race, drops you down into the middle of the field. I wasn’t feeling comfortable in the first laps and I was close to making the same mistake again, but then as the grip faded I started to ride well and have fun, battling with several riders. We must keep in mind that this was only the third Grand Prix of a very long season, but we also have to admit that Bezzecchi, right now, is really fast. We have to keep inching closer to the front and focus on the small details, as we’re not missing much and I know I can do better than this.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 10th
“Already from the warm up, I didn’t have the same feeling, as I was struggling to carry the same speed into the corners as in previous days. I wasn’t fully comfortable at the start of the race: there was less rear grip, but I tried to manage it. I saw that Diggia was trying to bridge the gap to the leaders and I tried to stay with him, but then the grip got clearly worse. With four laps to go, I tried to push a bit harder in order to defend myself from Marc (Márquez) and Enea (Bastianini), but the final two laps were a nightmare: I had a near crash every time I leaned into the right-hand corners. Unfortunately, we can’t make the bike stop and turn the way we’d like, so we need to continue working in these areas.”
KTM Factory Racing
The weather pivoted again at the Circuit of the Americas from a cool and cloudy Saturday – where Red Bull KTM Tech3 and Enea Bastianini celebrated a podium classification in the Sprint – to sunshine and higher temperatures for Grand Prix race day. MotoGP lunged into the 13th event at the sprawling and technically demanding course southeast of Austin with three Red Bull KTM riders in action; Maverick Viñales had been forced to withdraw on Friday due to a problem with his left shoulder, requiring minor surgery this week.
The race started with Pedro Acosta on the front row, and the Spaniard aced the holeshot to lead on the first lap of his 100th GP appearance (made in all classes and since his first in 2021). He survived close contact onto the back straight then formed part of a three-rider posse going for the podium order. Pedro maintained his pace in P3 and crossed the line less than 4.5 seconds from the winner. The silverware represents his second of the year and his 12th in the premier class and keeps the 21-year-old 3rd in the championship standings.
Enea Bastianini moved up from 12th on the grid to enter the top ten after four laps. He then embarked on a sensational battle for the top five and manage to log 6th place for his best result since the 2025 Catalan GP last summer. Brad Binder had to make progress from a qualifying slot of P18. The South African quickly got into the points and finished 12th.
Round four of MotoGP will take place in Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix in three weeks: the first European date on the schedule.
Pedro Acosta, 3rd and 3rd in the championship: “Not the calmest first lap! I was happy because I needed a new bike after my crash in warm-up and the guys had to rebuild it, so they are the heroes of the weekend. I’m happy, we’re on the podium again and we keep this top five consistency.”
Enea Bastianini, 6th and 11th in the championship: “Very happy. It was a tough start to the race. I lost the rear in Turn 3 and then some positions. After I had contact with another rider my airbag went off. It was hard to ride for one lap but then after that I tried to ride my pace and catch every rider that was in front of me. We missed a bit of acceleration but for the rest we were competitive, especially in braking, and we can be satisfied with the weekend. Back to fight at the top is good.”
Brad Binder, 12th and 12th in the championship: “A really long race and I just couldn’t find any pace all weekend. I had chatter at the beginning and became more and more, especially on full lean. I wasn’t expecting that. Two 12th places is nowhere near good enough. We have some serious homework to do to be better for Jerez.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Really good progress for us this weekend at COTA with two riders in the top six, one on the podium of course with Pedro’s fine performance all weekend, and all three in the top twelve. It’s been a solid day of results. This GP seemed a bit more ‘back to normal’ compared to Brazil last week and we evolved areas of the bike and also in our work. We want to give all our riders more positive tools going forwards and it was encouraging to see Enea really on fire here. In Europe we’ll see more about our level and our potential in this category. We also hope to see Maverick back with us.”
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team
The United States GP ended with a fourth-place finish for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, which went on track on Sunday in Austin with a special livery designed by Aldo Drudi. Fabio Di Giannantonio fought for the podium, finishing fourth and as the top Ducati rider. Franco Morbidelli placed fourteenth after a comeback race.
Di Giannantonio made the most of his pole position start (secured by breaking the lap time record), immediately joining the battle for the podium. Fabio showed an excellent pace, managing to stay with the leading group and defend his position with great determination. The rider frome Rome crossed the finish line in fourth place, confirming himself once again in Austin as the best Ducati rider at the finish. Di Giannantonio is fourth in the World Standing with 50 points.
A challenging race for Morbidelli, who started from twentieth position. After a difficult start, Franco showed great determination on a very demanding track, gaining positions. Consistently improving lap after lap, the Italian-Brazilian rider crossed the finish line in fourteenth place. With today’s result, he is thirteenth in the World Standing with 14 points.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will return to the track in three weeks following the extended break caused by the postponement of the Qatar GP. MotoGP returns to Europe for the Spanish GP, which will take place from 24th to 26th April at the Circuito de Jerez.
Fabio Di Giannantonio – 49
“Overall, it was a positive weekend, I’m very happy. We arrived here in Austin and I wasn’t at 100% of my physical condition, so I have to thank Christian, the physiotherapist, and the whole team for the work they did to help me recover with my shoulder. We’ll need to undergo some tests to understand what’s going on, because I struggled a bit physically. Aside from that, we’re in great shape, we’re putting pressure on the front riders even though there’s still a gap at the moment. We need to work both with the team and Ducati to close that gap. We know where we need to improve and we’re already doing it. We’re still missing something in the race. It’s not the result we wanted, because when you’re competing at a high level you always aim for the podium, but today I gave my best and fourth was the maximum we could achieve. There are still many positives to take home: I got pole position and set many fast laps. I’m really happy.”
Franco Morbidelli – 21
“It was a tough weekend. We struggled every day, although less and less each day. Today in the race we managed to score two points: it’s not what we want, but it was important to finish the race to gather information and data. The feeling with the bike wasn’t great this weekend, we didn’t have rear grip. But, we started from further back and improved more and more as the days went on. That’s a positive aspect. Now we have a few weeks off, we’ll keep training and working with the team to do better and return to our best.”
Pablo Nieto – Team Manager
“Overall, Austin was a good weekend for Diggia and we should be happy. We were missing something, because we were fighting for the win with him, and it’s a pity we didn’t make it on the podium. But he took pole position and achieving this kind of result is really great, I believe we’re working very well. Right now, our rivals have made a significant step forward, but we’re very close. Franco struggled a lot during this weekend in the United States, but he improved greatly during the race. If he continues like this, we’ll see him back in the top positions.”
Honda HRC Castrol
Another unpredictable Sunday was waiting for the MotoGP World Championship as the riders rolled onto the grid, the sun shinning but a wind whipping up around them. All eyes were on the critical first corner as lights went out.
Starting in 11th place, Luca Marini had extra work to do and found himself sandwiched between a KTM and a Gresini machine into the tight first corner of COTA after struggling off the line compared to Saturday. From here the race was a series of intense battles and passes until the #10 arrived on the edge of the top ten, settling in behind Raul Fernandez as the pace of the grid leveled out.
Seeing a fast-fading Bagnaia just ahead of him, Marini kept his rhythm until the very end to steal ninth place from the double MotoGP World Champion. A pair of point scoring finishes at the US GP moves Marini to tenth in the World Championship standings, five points behind 2025 MotoGP runner-up Alex Marquez. He leads Johann Zarco by ten points in the fight for top Honda.
Joan Mir’s Sunday followed a similar script to Saturday, the #36 starting well and locking horns with almost every Ducati on the grid. A well-saved moment early in the race sent him wide through the opening sector and earned him a Long Lap Penalty as a result. He would crash from the top ten before serving the penalty, fortunately avoiding any injury. With three points, Mir holds 19th in the World Championship standings.
After three races away from home, the Honda HRC Castrol team will now return to Europe and prepare for the Spanish GP, April 24 – 26 in Jerez. Three weeks of rest, recovery and development to arrive in the best position possible to continue the fight.
Luca Marini 10
“Today was pretty straight forward, everything came from the start. I was already minus two positions, and I made a really bad start, which is very strange because the starts have been one of our strongest points on the Honda. It’s something we need to check because I lost some positions. The positive is I had some really nice battles further back as it was quite a chaotic race in the opening laps – it was fun, but when I arrived to Fernandez, the pace of everyone was very close. Today the wind changed direction, so it changed our braking points, I focused on hitting my marks and in the last lap I saw Bagnaia was not having an easy time. This race shows that the level of everyone has improved a lot and we still have work to do to break into that top eight.”
Joan Mir 36
“A disappointing way to finish a weekend that had a lot of promise. I was in a position yesterday and today to attack, recover a lot on entry and see what was possible. When I am alone I can ride well and fast, in the slipstream with these bikes you have to risk twice as much to make up time. Finally the front went, we need to improve the rear to gain something more on corner exit because this can happen when you are riding the front so hard. I like knowing I have a chance, this is good and we have improved a lot compared to when I first started with Honda and I know that we can keep working together to improve more and more.”
Monster Energy Yamaha
The Grand Prix of the United States Race didn’t play out as the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team had hoped. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins took the chequered flag in 17th and 18th place respectively.
Quartararo launched from P16 and held this position for the majority of the 20-lap contest, though he briefly climbed up to P15 after Ai Ogura had a technical issue on lap 15. El Diablo was in the company of Toprak Razgatlíoğlu and focused on defending his position from him. El Diablo did so successfully until lap 18. Losing one more position to Jack Miller on the final lap, he finished in P17, 27.136s from first.
Starting from P21, Rins was not able to make up positions in the tight Turn 1 and settled at the back of the pack. He climbed up a position on lap 5 but had to relinquish it on lap 8, and afterwards it became a lonely ride for him. With three rivals unable to reach the finish line, Rins took the chequered flag in P18, 38.701s from the winner.
Today’s results put Quartaro in 17th place in the championship standings with 6 points. Rins is in 18th with 3 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are in 10th position in the team classifications, with 9 points, and Yamaha is fifth in the contructor rankings with 9 points.
The team will enjoy three weeks off before travelling to Jerez for the Grand Prix of Spain, held from 24–26 April.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“All in all, it’s been a tough race weekend. I don’t want to say that ‘it’s a GP to forget’ because we need to learn from the difficulties we faced. We knew before coming here that COTA is one of the tracks that highlight our areas of improvement. Following the Sprint and the Race, we now have data with the new bike that we can analyse. While these are not ‘fun’ races for the riders or our team, they are crucial for future bike development. We will use the three weeks leading up to the Spanish GP to regroup and prepare, so we can give it our all again in Jerez.”
FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“I didn’t expect the tyres to drop like that at the end. I was managing the tyres, but they still dropped in the last five laps. Yamaha knows what we need and what we need to do. Toprak impressed me all weekend, though. The way he rides is really smooth and very much his style, like we’ve seen in WorldSBK – it’s good.”
ÁLEX RINS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“We had an electronic issue in today’s race that was affecting the bike. In the beginning I was feeling good. I was in front of Miller, and I was going to catch Toprak. But on lap 8, I started to encounter an issue, and that’s it. It was quite tough to manage.”
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