Bezzecchi and Aprilia untouchable in USA MotoGP

The question of whether Aprilia had built an RS-GP capable of challenging Ducati’s reigning world champion Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) at his beloved Circuit of the Americas was emphatically answered as factory rider Marco Bezzecchi led every lap of the US Grand Prix. He became the first rider in the modern era to win five consecutive races while never being headed. Once again, it was an Aprilia 1-2, with teammate Jorge Martin following the Italian home.

But despite the stellar Sunday, it was an up-and-down Saturday for the Noale factory. Bezzecchi crashed out of the Sprint race, while Martin took his first gold medal since 2024, ahead of Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) and Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM). Marc Marquez failed to finish after taking out pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) and receiving a long-lap penalty in the GP. Pedro Acosta was also penalised, demoted from third in the Sprint following a tyre-pressure infringement.

Acosta got the holeshot when the lights went out for the 20-lap US GP, leading the two factory Aprilia riders of Bezzecchi and Martin, followed by two GP26s ridden by Di Giannantonio and Marquez. But Bezzecchi found a way past Acosta before the end of the opening lap, maintaining his record of leading every lap of a Sunday GP as he sought to make up for another Saturday setback.

With Acosta’s KTM keeping the Aprilias honest, tension grew between Di Giannantonio and Marquez as they battled for position. Marc entered the long-lap penalty loop on lap five, rejoining in 11th and promoting Bagnaia to fifth.

A series of fastest laps gave Bezzecchi breathing space as Martin recovered from a near crash at the first turn of lap seven. Bagnaia, on a run of personal-best laps, caught up to Di Giannantonio, creating a five-way battle for the podium. Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing), who had qualified 11th, set the fastest lap on lap nine and began picking his way through the field, moving into fourth by lap 14. On the same lap, a mistake from Acosta allowed Martin to move into second, and with Ogura’s speed, an all-Aprilia podium suddenly seemed possible.

Meanwhile, Marquez began recovering through the field, locked in a four-way fight for sixth with Bagnaia, Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), and Bastianini. Bastianini made a move to sandwich Alex between himself and Marc, but Marc quickly passed both before Bastianini reclaimed a position.

Ogura’s late podium charge ended with a mechanical failure, leaving the battle for the top three between Bezzecchi, Martin, and Acosta. With three laps remaining, Marc and Enea found a way past Bagnaia, who was desperately trying to defend.

At the front, Bezzecchi, Martin, and Acosta were separated by about a second, with Di Giannantonio running a lonely fourth. Bagnaia dropped further, passed for seventh by Alex Marquez on the penultimate lap and overtaken by Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) on the final lap. Luca Marini (HRC) completed the top 10.

Bezzecchi crossed the line to become the first rider to win the opening three GPs since Marc Marquez in 2014. He also set a modern-era record of five consecutive GP wins while leading every lap. Jorge Lorenzo’s long-standing record of 103 leading laps was surpassed on lap four and rewritten as 121.

Australian Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) qualified 19th and finished 16th, one of the four Yamahas rounding out the final positions.

After briefly losing the championship lead to Martin following Saturday’s Sprint, Bezzecchi reclaimed top spot with 81 points, ahead of Martin on 77. Acosta sits third on 60, followed by Di Giannantonio (50) and Marquez (45).

With the Qatar Grand Prix postponed until October due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the series will resume in Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix from 24–26 April.