First explanation of Marc Marquez’s shocking COTA MotoGP crash given

Ducati MotoGP team boss Davide Tardozzi has revealed Marc Marquez’s first words following his surprise crash out of the lead of the 2025 Americas Grand Prix.

The factory Ducati rider came into Sunday’s grand prix at COTA looking to extend his winning streak in 2025 to six races, having maintained his 100% record in the sprint on Saturday.

Marc Marquez triggered a chaotic start to the grand prix, as with three minutes to go he ran off the grid into pitlane to switch to his dry bike having initially gone to the grid on wets following light rainfall on the build-up to the race.

A number of riders followed him in, with the situation ultimately proving too dangerous for the race to go ahead as planned and leading to a delayed start.

Marquez almost had problems on the grid for the delayed start, as he struggled to get his front ride height device engaged - though ultimately managed to.

Taking the holeshot off pole, Marquez was over a second clear of the field at the end of the opening lap and continued to swell this advantage.

When he started lap nine, he was over two seconds clear of his factory Ducati team-mate Pecco Bagnaia.

But his race came to an end at Turn 4 when he crashed, gifting Bagnaia a lead he would convert into his first win of the season.

Marquez rejoined the race with a badly damaged bike, before pulling into pitlane on lap 13.

Ducati team boss Tardozzi says Marquez has owned the crash as his own mistake and apologised to the team.

“Yeah, he said sorry to the team,” Tardozzi said of Marquez’s initial debrief.

“But he cut a bit too much the corner and he touched the apex and it was a bit wet.”

Bagnaia’s win has put him just 12 points behind Marquez now heading to the fourth round of the season in Qatar in two weeks’ time.

With a second at COTA on Sunday, Alex Marquez now leads the world championship for the first time in his career by a point of his elder brother.

Marc Marquez hadn’t crashed on his factory Ducati during an official race weekend until Friday morning, when he was launched from his bike at Turn 2 in the wet FP1.

He now has two falls for the season.