MotoGP U.S.A. 2025 Race Report

Written by Abhishek Ramesh

Bagnaia claims his first win of the season as Marc Márquez crashes out from the lead; Álex Márquez takes over the championship lead with another P2. The real chaos, however, came before the race even got underway.

Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia during the MotoGP race week at Circuit of the Americas. Credit: Ducati Corse on X

Francesco Bagnaia took his first win of the 2025 MotoGP season at the Circuit of the Americas here on Sunday, March 30, for the Ducati Lenovo team. But the biggest talking point of the race came when his teammate and unbeaten championship leader Marc Márquez crashed out while leading.

Marc’s brother, Álex Márquez, continued his streak of P2 finishes and now leads the riders’ standings by one point. Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top three, taking his first podium since Qatar 2023.

The start of the race saw a clean getaway from the leading pack of Ducatis. Bagnaia managed to jump to P3 and then, on lap 4, took P2 away from Álex Márquez at turn 12.

The turning point of the Grand Prix came on lap 9. The leading Ducati of Marc Márquez was over two seconds clear at the front, but went down going through the snaking turns 3 and 4. He damaged his front screen and lost the right foot peg on the bike as a result. The Spaniard carried on until lap 13, before ending his race in the pits.

Further behind, the race saw plenty of riders going down in non-ideal track conditions. KTM’s Pedro Acosta crashed at the first corner on lap 8, and the mistake ruined his chance of finishing as the best non-Ducati rider. That distinction went to Jack Miller in the end.

The Aussie had a superb race to take P5 for the Pramac Yamaha squad. Despite a quiet and largely uneventful outing, he’ll be confident after this strong performance. Miller was followed by Marco Bezzecchi, the highest-finishing Aprilia rider in sixth. 

Factory Honda rider Joan Mir’s 2025 woes continued after he went down at turn 12, having been in contention for a top-10 spot on lap 11. Meanwhile, Gresini rookie Fermín Aldeguer was having his first solid outing of the year. That was until he crashed while in fifth position and with just over two laps remaining in the race. 

LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco also suffered a late heartbreak with a crash at the dreaded turn 12, immediately after being overtaken by Enea Bastianini, who was the highest-placed KTM man on the day in P7. 

2025 Americas MotoGP, COTA - Race Results

Pos Rider Nat Team Time/Diff.

1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP25) 39m 0.191s

2 Álex Márquez SPA BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24) +2.089s

3 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) +3.594s

4 Franco Morbidelli ITA Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP24) +10.732s

5 Jack Miller AUS Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1) +11.857s

6 Marco Bezzecchi ITA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP25) +12.238s

7 Enea Bastianini ITA Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) +12.815s

8 Luca Marini ITA Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) +15.646s

9 Ai Ogura JPN Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP25) +16.344s

10 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +18.255s

11 Álex Rins SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +24.256s

12 Raúl Fernández SPA Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP25) +27.938s

13 Augusto Fernandez SPA Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1) +35.740s

14 Maverick Viñales SPA Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) +42.724s

15 Lorenzo Savadori ITA Aprilia Factory (RS-GP25) +46.397s

16 Somkiat Chantra THA Idemitsu Honda LCR (RC213V) +63.601s

17 Johann Zarco FRA Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V) +2 laps 

  Fermín Aldeguer SPA BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24) DNF 

  Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF 

  Marc Márquez SPA Ducati Lenovo (GP25) DNF 

  Joan Mir SPA Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) DNF 

  Pedro Acosta   SPA Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF

While it was riders-going-down drama in the race, it was simply mayhem even before the race had begun. Fabio Quartararo’s crash on the sighting lap was just a prelude. The mixed weather conditions made the decision of choosing between slick and wet tyres before the start an interesting one, to say the least. 

Just before the crucial three-minute interval to the formation lap, Ducati riders, including Marc Márquez and Bagnaia, abandoned their initial choice of starting on wet tyres, instead choosing to bolt to the garage to make the switch to dry tyres.

A red flag and delayed start procedure then followed this sudden exodus of several riders from the grid. This neutralised the potential advantage others could have had from their gamble of starting on slicks further back on the grid.

Sprint Race

Earlier on Saturday, the sprint race saw yet another Márquez brothers 1-2 showdown, led by the six-time premier class champion, with Bagnaia completing the podium. However, the opening lap featured arguably the most exciting moments of racing in the season so far. 

Marc got away well from pole, but it was his factory teammate who took the holeshot after a stunning launch from P6, albeit momentarily. The Ducati Lenovo riders exchanged overtakes again on lap 1 before Marc had a huge moment at turn 17. He somehow saved himself from going down after a rear slide. Márquez then quickly regained his composure to retake the lead in the final sector of lap 1. 

What followed was largely a procession at the front. There was, however, intense action between the two VR46 riders - Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli along with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo for fourth, fifth and sixth positions.

The 2021 world champion finished behind both of those Ducatis, but his P6 finish was still commendable, considering the performance disadvantage of his bike.