Thomas Luthi thinks Marc Marquez has sparked ‘alarm bells’ at Ducati after what he saw at COTA

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Thomas Luthi thinks “alarm bells” will now be ringing at Ducati, as Marc Marquez not being able to make the difference at COTA shows he cannot hide their flaws anymore.

Marquez is the King of COTA with a record seven MotoGP Grand Prix wins in Austin, Texas to his name. The Spaniard even won every year at COTA from 2013 until 2018, but he could not fight for the victory in the 2026 United States Grand Prix – even without his long lap penalty.

The FIM stewards slapped Marquez with a long lap penalty for the United States GP after he took VR46 rival Fabio Di Giannantonio out during the Sprint Race. Marquez fell after leaving it too late to brake for Turn 12, and he wiped Di Giannantonio out on the first lap of the Sprint.

Marquez fell from P7 to P11 after serving his penalty, but he recovered to finish in P5 at the chequered flag. He finished 8.100 seconds behind Marco Bezzecchi as the Aprilia racer won at COTA, plus 3.603s from KTM star Pedro Acosta in the final podium position last time out.

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Marc Marquez’s challenges at COTA prove the Aprilia RS-GP is better than the Ducati GP26

But Luthi thinks Marquez not being able to make a difference on the GP26 around COTA was more concerning for Ducati than his result, as Aprilia definitively showed they have the best bike. Jorge Martin won the COTA Sprint and gifted Aprilia a one-two in the United States GP.

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Luthi believes Aprilia “can no longer deny” that the RS-GP is a superior bike to the Ducati, as the RS-GP’s superior turning ability compared to the GP26 really stood out around COTA. He particularly feels Aprilia’s bike was “clearly” stronger throughout COTA’s flowing first section.

“It was clearly visible that the Aprilia turned much better,” Luthi told Motorsport-Magazin. “This allowed Bezzecchi to take tighter lines and get through the twists and turns faster.

“Perhaps Marc was able to conceal or override a lot. He still achieved so much success towards the end of last year. Of course, development towards 2027 started earlier with all the rule changes, but 2026 is still an important year for Ducati.

“They certainly wanted to be at the forefront. Ideally, not just with one rider, but with all of them. And they’re simply not managing that at the moment.

“I think Marc Marquez was able to get away with it for a long time, but even he couldn’t do that in Austin. Now, the alarm bells have definitely been ringing in the Ducati ranks.”

VR46 rider Di Giannantonio edged factory Aprilia pilot Bezzecchi to claim pole for the United States GP aboard his Ducati GP26. Works Ducati ace Francesco Bagnaia also took his GP26 to P4 on the grid, and he almost won the Sprint before Martin overtook him on the final lap.

But the pace of the GP26 during qualifying and the Sprint did not translate to a strong Grand Prix in Texas. Di Giannantonio was the top Ducati rider in the United States GP as he finished P4 with a 6.972s deficit to Bezzecchi, while Bagnaia only secured P10 with a 14.544s deficit.