MotoGP Recap - Records extended at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the United States
31 March 2026With penalties, last lap overtakes, and more changes at the top of the MotoGP Championship standings, the Circuit of the Americas once again delivered phenomenal racing and unbridled chaos as MotoGP visited for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the United States.
Before Friday afternoon’s Practice session, it was announced that Maverick Viñales had withdrawn from the weekend due to shoulder pain, caused by a displaced screw that had been fitted after his Sachsenring injury last year. Viñales is set to undergo a procedure to rectify the issue, and is planning to be fit for the next race weekend in Jerez.
Di Giannantonio secures back-to-back pole positions
Setting a new lap record of 2:00.136, Fabio Di Giannantonio claimed back-to-back pole positions during Saturday’s Q2 session. Marco Bezzecchi was the next fastest rider, but received a two-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Grand Prix for riding slow on the racing line during the second qualifying session, so started the Sprint from 2nd on the grid, but from 4th for the Grand Prix. The front row of the grid was completed by Pedro Acosta, who produced another impressive qualifying performance, with the next highest KTM qualifying in 12th.
Martin returns to the top step with US Sprint victory
An overtake on Francesco Bagnaia on the last lap of Saturday’s Sprint gave MotoGP a new Championship leader, as Jorge Martin achieved his first Sprint victory with Aprilia Racing, and took back the record for most Sprint wins, with 17. Choosing to opt for the medium rear tyre, rather than the soft rear being used by every other rider, was a bold decision that paid off for Martin, as it gave him the advantage he needed in the latter half of the race to successfully challenge for the win. Bagnaia picked up his first podium finish of 2026 with 2nd place, with 3rd initially going the way of Acosta, however he later received an eight second penalty due to low tyre pressure, which promoted Enea Bastianini to the podium.
Sprint DNFs for several podium hopefuls
Saturday’s Sprint saw drama unfolding from the very first lap, as Marc Marquez crashed out of the race, taking polesitter Di Giannantonio with him. Di Giannantonio was able to rejoin the field but later retired, and Marquez was given a long lap penalty for the Grand Prix the following day. Further into the Sprint, Bezzecchi crashed out of 2nd with three laps remaining, and Joan Mir, who had qualified 5th, crashed out of 4th at Turn 1 on the final lap, eventually rejoining to finish out of the points in 15th.
Bezzecchi continues Grand Prix winning streak
The two-place penalty for Sunday’s Grand Prix wasn’t enough to stop Aprilia Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi from taking another race win, putting him back at the top of the MotoGP Championship standings, and seeing him become the first rider since Marc Marquez in 2014 to win the first three Grands Prix of a season. After contact on Lap 1 with Pedro Acosta, where both riders were lucky to stay on track, Bezzecchi claimed a new record when they reached Lap 4 - leading more consecutive Grands Prix laps than anyone else in the modern era. The previous record, held by Jorge Lorenzo from 2015, stood at 103. By crossing the line ahead for each lap of Sunday’s race, Bezzecchi has achieved an impressive 121 consecutive Grand Prix laps led.
Aprilia Racing celebrated a 1-2 finish for the second time this season, as Jorge Martin was able to capitalise on Acosta running wide during Lap 14, and stay there to take 2nd. Finishing 3rd, Acosta now finds himself matching the record for the most Grand Prix podiums without a win, with 12. It looked at one point as though Aprilia could take all three podium spots, with Trackhouse MotoGP Team’s Ai Ogura battling his way up the field from 10th on the grid, including an impressive move on Di Giannantonio for 4th. Despite having the pace to potentially catch up to Acosta, a technical issue on Lap 15 caused Ogura to retire from the race.
Aguis takes his first Moto2 win of the season
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP’s Senna Agius becomes the third different Moto2 winner in as many races, after triumphing in the shortened 10 lap restart, following a red-flagged initial race.
Lap 1 of the first race saw a crash at Turn 1 involving Daniel Holgado and Joe Roberts, before an incident later in the lap at Turn 11 involving Alberto Ferrandez, Sergio Garcia, Filip Salac, Daniel Munoz, Angel Piqueras,David Alonso and Colin Veijer saw red flags bought out as debris was removed from the track, and riders received medical attention. As less than 3 laps were completed, the race was to be fully restarted, and all riders were eligible to restart, however Piqueras and Ferrandez were taken to the medical centre, and Garcia also did not restart.
Agius was joined on the podium by Celestino Vietti, who had made several attempts to claim the victory from Agius late in the race, but eventually finished 2nd, and Izan Guevara in 3rd.
Pini achieves maiden Moto3 Grand Prix victory
Guido Pini has become the latest Moto3 rider to achieve their first win in the Championship, with an impressive last corner move to secure the victory. Alvaro Carpe had converted his first Moto3 pole position into a strong start, and was leading the way ahead of Valentin Perrone, whilst Maximo Quiles made his way up to 3rd from 8th on the grid. Early into the race, a leading group of five riders had formed, as Perrone, Carpe and Quiles were joined by Adrian Fernandez and Pini. The group of five scuffled and exchanged places, and were briefly joined by Joel Esteban and Veda Pratama, until a huge highside for Pratama took both him and Esteban out of the race with 10 laps remaining.
Going into the final corner of the last lap, Carpe and Perrone were running side by side, but as both riders ran wide, Pini came up the inside, taking the final corner perfectly to take his first win in Moto3. Quiles followed behind him to take 2nd, with Carpe then coming across the line to take 3rd.
With three rounds of the 2026 MotoGP season now complete, Aprilia has asserted themselves as the manufacturer to beat. Riders and teams now have just under a month before heading to Round Four in Jerez, where the race weekend will then be followed by a day of MotoGP testing. After time to rest and recharge, who will emerge ready to battle at the Grand Prix of Spain?
