'Marco was at another level' - Bezzecchi's MotoGP glory in United States meeting
The 2026 Red Bull Grand Prix of the United States delivered plenty of drama - but it was Marco Bezzecchi who stole the show with a commanding performance.
The Italian dominated proceedings at COTA, leading every lap to take victory by 2.036 seconds ahead of Aprilia team-mate Jorge Martín, the Tissot Sprint winner.
Pedro Acosta completed the podium for Red Bull KTM.
Bouncing back from his Sprint race crash, Bezzecchi was flawless in the Grand Prix, becoming the first rider in over a decade to win the opening three races of a season.
“I’m very happy because yesterday I made a mistake, and it was important to make a good race today,” he said.
For Martín, the weekend still marked a major step forward. The Spaniard secured Sprint victory and briefly led the championship standings for the first time since 2024 before settling into second overall.
“It was amazing,” Martín said. “I did my best, but Marco was at another level.”
Acosta’s third-place finish provided redemption after a frustrating Saturday.
The young Spaniard had originally finished third in the Sprint but was handed an eight-second tyre pressure penalty, dropping him to eighth and promoting Enea Bastianini onto the podium.
“I was not happy with the penalty,” Acosta admitted. “But I’m happy because the boys had to make a completely new bike after I crashed in warm-up, and we are on the podium again.”
Meanwhile, the ‘King of COTA’, Marc Márquez, endured a difficult weekend. The seven-time Texas winner crashed out of the Sprint, taking pole-setter Fabio Di Giannantonio with him.
A long-lap penalty in Sunday’s race further dented his chances of a podium, dropping him to 11th before he recovered to fifth behind Di Giannantonio and ahead of Bastianini.
Chaos erupted in the Moto2 race as red flags were shown on the opening lap after Daniel Holgado wiped out Joe Roberts at Turn 1, followed by a horrific seven-rider crash at Turn 11.
In the rerun 10-lap race, Australian Senna Agius claimed his third career Moto2 victory, fending off a late charge from Celestino Vietti, Izan Guevara.
Italian youngster Guido Pini claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory in a thrilling Moto3 contest, emerging victorious from a fierce four-way battle in the closing laps.
Pini went head-to-head with Max Quiles, Álvaro Carpe and Valentín Perrone, with less than half a second separating the top four riders as they crossed the line in a dramatic finish.
There was disappointment, however, for Irish rider Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse), who was unable to convert his first front-row start into a points-scoring result.
The Irishman crashed out on lap 11 while battling for a place inside the top 10.