Aprilia unveiled the X 250TH at COTA on Friday, with Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin doing the honours ahead of this weekend’s Americas Grand Prix. Just 30 units will be built, 25 destined for the US market at $150,000 each. The track only machine produces 240 horsepower and becomes the first customer bike ever sold with full carbon carbon MotoGP spec brake discs. Only 30 exist. Good luck.
Pedro Acosta topped COTA FP1 by just 0.103 seconds from Di Giannantonio, with KTM, Ducati and Aprilia split by 0.113 seconds at the front. Marc Marquez crashed at Turn 10 within the opening ten minutes, flew through the gravel and rejoined on his second bike with a bandaged right hand to salvage fourth. Bezzecchi eighth. Bagnaia sixth. COTA is wide open.
Marc Marquez walked away from a terrifying 192km/h crash at Turn 10 in COTA FP1 today, bringing out the red flag just 10 minutes into the session. Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi confirmed he escaped with only bruising to his right hand and arm, with medical director declaring nothing serious had been injured. Marquez rejoined on his second bike and finished fourth. COTA weekend is already dramatic.
Marc Marquez has defended the FIM’s circuit homologation process despite the Brazil chaos, saying the system works but circuits must follow through. MotoGP’s return to Goiânia was wrecked by a sinkhole on the main straight Saturday and asphalt breaking apart at Turns 11 and 12 Sunday, cutting the race from 31 laps to 23. Final homologation was only confirmed the Thursday before the race, with the entire paddock already on site. Marquez says the process is sound. Others disagree.
Francesco Bagnaia wants MotoGP to make pre-event test sessions mandatory at new circuits, speaking ahead of the US Grand Prix at COTA. Brazil’s return after 22 years ended in chaos, with the race shortened by eight laps due to surface degradation at Goiânia. Bagnaia pointed to Indonesia 2022 as proof that testing works, with tyre problems identified and fixed before race weekend. He confirmed factory test riders would be sufficient, with Buenos Aires and Adelaide joining the calendar next season.
Every sport has those rivalries that transcend individual races. Senna and Prost. Rossi and Stoner. Lorenzo and Marquez. The 2026 MotoGP season is six weeks old and already building the…
Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna branded Brazil as below expectations despite pole position and a Sprint win, urging the team to keep working without panicking. He praised Di Giannantonio’s performance but pointed directly to Bagnaia’s qualifying crash as critical, noting that at Goiania, where overtaking was almost impossible, recovering from 11th was an enormous ask. Marquez finished fourth despite riding on the defensive all race.
Jorge Martin arrives at COTA carrying the physical toll of back to back race weekends. He told media in Texas he is feeling pain after Brazil, admitting consecutive rounds are not ideal for his body right now. He puts his current fitness at 95% and expects to hit peak condition by Jerez. Despite that, he believes he is a better rider now than during his 2024 title winning season. The Martinator is back.
Marc Marquez heads to the Americas Grand Prix as the most successful rider at Austin, holding seven MotoGP wins from ten starts. The Spaniard ruled the circuit with a six-race winning streak between 2013 and 2018 and added another victory in 2021. All his Austin wins resulted in podium finishes, his main setbacks were crashes while leading in 2019 and again in 2024.
Marco Bezzecchi arrived in Brazil on Friday, struggling for motivation and two seconds off the pace. By Sunday he led from lights to flag for his fourth straight Grand Prix win. The boost he needed came from Valentino Rossi, who texted him race morning to tell him he was on a roll and to go for it.