Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez’s perfect start to the 2025 MotoGP season came to a dramatic end as he crashed out of the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday. Marquez was leading comfortably when he went down in the first sector.
Unlike in Saturday’s Sprint race, Marquez enjoyed a serene start. But just before the halfway point of the race, he faltered at turn four.
The six-time premier-class champion remounted and got going again, but the damage to his bike was severe. After falling behind Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori and LCR rookie Somkiat Chantra, he pulled into the pits to retire.
Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia inherited the lead and took his first victory of the season. Marquez’s brother Alex finished runner-up yet again but assumes the lead of the championship.
Neil Hodgson dismayed that Marc Marquez used kerb before Americas Grand Prix crash
After picking up seven wins in Texas – including six in a row between 2013 and 2018 – Marquez has been labelled the king of COTA. But the greasy conditions injected jeopardy.
Marquez’s crash wasn’t shown live on the world feed broadcast, but TNT Sports commentator Neil Hodgson was shocked when he saw the replay. The Spaniard took a chance by using the inside kerb at T4, and he was punished.
Hodgson said a rider of Marquez’s experience – this was his 192nd Grand Prix start – should know better. He pointed out that he was the only one taking the aggressive line.
“We talked about this before the race,” Hodgson said. “The only man who uses the kerb through that part of the track is that man. You can’t see the wet patches on the kerb. You risk it, it holds the water, and he should know that.
“I can’t believe he took the kerb on the inside with lean angle.”
Marquez has appeared to be riding within himself at times this season, utilising Ducati’s sizeable advantage over the field. But he was perhaps guilty of pushing too hard in Austin.
Francesco Bagnaia followed Valentino Rossi advice at Americas GP
2024 world champion Jorge Martin called Marquez ‘impetuous’ in a recent interview, and Sunday’s race arguably proved him right. Martin also suggested that Bagnaia thrived when everything was ‘in order’, but here he held his own in chaotic circumstances.
Bagnaia said in his post-race interview that he screamed in celebration beneath his helmet after taking the chequered flag. It was his 30th win but surely one of his most cathartic given the media narratives he’s had to deal with.
Ahead of the Americas Grand Prix, two-time world champion Bagnaia received some advice from Valentino Rossi, his mentor. He mentioned that Rossi ‘never’ made mistakes, and perhaps that informed his approach this weekend.
After his 2024 title bid was blighted by crashes, he balanced aggression and caution to perfection here.
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