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Marquez continues unbeaten start after thrilling victory in MotoGP Americas GP sprint

Factory Ducati star Marc Marquez maintained his perfect 2025 record by converting pole position to victory in an absorbing Americas Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday. 

As in every sprint and grand prix this year so far, the six-time MotoGP champion was followed home by his brother Alex on the Gresini Ducati. But this race was more exciting than anything 2025 had delivered so far.

Francesco Bagnaia returned to podium form on the second factory Ducati, but made something of a statement by leading Marquez multiple times on a thrilling first lap at Circuit of the Americas.

The two-time champion made a terrific start from sixth on the grid by grabbing the lead into the tight Turn 1. That was the cue for easily the most entertaining lap of the 2025 campaign so far. Marquez muscled back past Bagnaia at Turn 2 before the Italian moved ahead again. 

Both factory Ducati riders subsequently battled back-and-forth, before Marquez made a big mistake towards the end of the lap and had to draw on one of his signature saves as Bagnaia and Alex Marquez fought to grab the advantage. 

But as on every previous occasion of that memorable opening lap, it was a matter of seconds before Marc reasserted his authority. He crossed the line to start lap two leading Alex – and was not headed again for the rest of the sprint.

Bagnaia then had a reality check, quickly losing touch with Alex. The order among the top three never looked likely to change from there, although Alex kept Marc honest as usual. In the end, the top three riders were covered by under two seconds.

The action behind the top three did not simmer down at all. An entertaining scrap for fourth between the VR46 duo of Fabio di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli, plus Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, took centre stage for the rest of the race. Quartararo had the position after a quick start, but after plenty of stubborn resistance he had to settle for sixth behind di Giannantonio and Morbidelli. 

Pedro Acosta (7th, KTM) and Luca Marini (8th, Honda) emerged as the winners of a midfield fight between their two manufacturers, which had also involved Maverick Vinales (KTM) and Joan Mir (Honda) before they fell victim to mechanical trouble and a crash respectively.

Ai Ogura (Pramac Yamaha) took advantage of those problems to grab the final point for ninth. 

MotoGP Americas Grand Prix sprint race results

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain M. Marquez Ducati Team 93 Ducati 10

-

      12
2 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 10

+0.795

0.795

0.795     9
3 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 63 Ducati 10

+1.918

1.918

1.123     7
4 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49 Ducati 10

+8.536

8.536

6.618     6
5 Italy F. Morbidelli Team VR46 21 Ducati 10

+9.685

9.685

1.149     5
6 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 10

+10.676

10.676

0.991     4
7 Spain P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 37 KTM 10

+12.049

12.049

1.373     3
8 Italy L. Marini Honda HRC 10 Honda 10

+13.588

13.588

1.539     2
9 Japan A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team 79 Aprilia 10

+13.752

13.752

0.164     1
10 Italy M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team 72 Aprilia 10

+14.584

14.584

0.832      
11 Spain F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing 54 Ducati 10

+14.754

14.754

0.170      
12 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 10

+14.908

14.908

0.154      
13 Italy E. Bastianini Tech 3 23 KTM 10

+16.009

16.009

1.101      
14 Australia J. Miller Pramac Racing 43 Yamaha 10

+16.182

16.182

0.173      
15 Spain A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42 Yamaha 10

+18.181

18.181

1.999      
16 France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 10

+18.625

18.625

0.444      
17 Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 10

+21.666

21.666

3.041      
18 Spain A. Fernandez Pramac Racing 7 Yamaha 10

+29.061

29.061

7.395      
19 Thailand S. Chantra Team LCR 35 Honda 10

+33.622

33.622

4.561      
20 Italy L. Savadori Aprilia Racing Team 32 Aprilia 10

+37.989

37.989

4.367      
dnf Spain M. Viñales Tech 3 12 KTM 7

3 laps

    Retirement  
dnf Spain J. Mir Honda HRC 36 Honda 5

5 laps

    Retirement  
In this article
Richard Asher
MotoGP
Marc Marquez
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