2025 Americas MotoGP: Marc Marquez wins sprint after early Pecco Bagnaia battle
Marc Marquez maintains 100% 2025 win record in COTA sprint
Marc Marquez won a third-successive sprint in MotoGP 2025 at the Americas Grand Prix despite a thrilling opening lap battle with Pecco Bagnaia that almost saw him crash.
After qualifying on pole for a record eighth time at COTA on Saturday, championship leader Marquez was not expected to be challenged in the 10-lap sprint.
But a stunning launch from sixth from factory Ducati team-mate Pecco Bagnaia saw the double world champion briefly lead, with the pair then engaging in a thrilling duel over the first half of the first lap.
Marc Marquez nearly crashed while leading at Turn 17, which dropped him briefly to third, before he rallied to retake first place.
Pushed hard by younger brother Alex Marquez for most of the remainder of the sprint, Marc Marquez ultimately held firm to claim his fifth win of the 2025 season to extend his championship lead.
Bagnaia completed the podium having been the fifth fastest of the six Ducatis in qualifying.
Off the line, Bagnaia carved up the inside of the field from sixth to take the lead from poleman Marc Marquez on the brakes into Turn 1.
Marquez came back through at Turn 2, but Bagnaia jammed his GP25 up the inside of his team-mate at Turn 3 before they swapped places again at Turn 7.
Leading still as they entered the stadium section, Marquez’s race almost came to an end when the rear of his bike let go rounding the Turn 17 right-hander.
This threw him out wide, allowing Alex Marquez on the Gresini-run GP24 Ducati and Bagnaia to overtake the championship leader.
But Marc Marquez went from third to the lead into the final corner and wouldn’t be topped again for the remaining nine laps.
For much of it he had Alex Marquez around half a second adrift, though that gap swelled to over a second during the penultimate tour.
Marquez’s lead came down to around seven tenths on the final lap as he backed off slightly to avoid any risk, with the eight-time world champion 0.795s clear of his younger brother at the chequered flag.
In the championship standings, Marc Marquez is now 19 points clear of Alex Marquez, while Bagnaia is 36 adrift.
After his stellar start, Bagnaia quickly faded away from the leading two just as he has at the previous two sprints.
At one stage Bagnaia had Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo hounding him for third, before the Frenchman almost lost the front of his M1 under braking for Turn 15 on the fourth tour.
Bagnaia was able to scamper away eventually to cement third, though he was 1.123s behind Alex Marquez at the chequered flag.
Fabio Di Giannantonio battled through to fourth after a scrappy start to his sprint from second, while VR46 team-mate Franco Morbidelli fended off a hard-charging Quartararo for fifth.
Pedro Acosta was seventh for KTM, with Luca Marini (Honda) and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) taking the final points down to ninth.
Tech3’s Maverick Vinales was denied a points finish when he was forced to retired with a bike issue on lap eight.
Honda’s Joan Mir was also on course for points before crashing at Turn 15 on lap five.
