MotoGP Grand Prix United States – Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2 finish in Austin

Marco Bezzecchi bounced back from his Sprint race crash to claim a dominant victory in the MotoGP Grand Prix race in Austin, Texas.

Bezzecchi held the lead from the end of the first lap and maintained his advantage as he controlled the pace throughout the 20-lap race to claim victory and return to the top of the world championship standings.

That is not to say there was not a little drama for the Italian, who came together with Pedro Acosta in the first few corners in an incident that left the rear fairing of his bike damaged for the rest of the race. But, despite that small issue, Bezzecchi quickly regained his composure and kept his rivals at bay as he pulled a gap of around 1.2s and controlled it for most of the race.

Bezzecchi's Aprilia team-mate Jorge Martin enjoyed another strong outing as he followed up his Sprint win from Saturday with a second-placed finish in the Grand Prix, while KTM's Acosta, who lost his third place in the Sprint due to a tyre pressure infraction, finished on the podium after another hard-fought performance.

There was heartbreak for Japan's Ai Ogura, who battled through to fourth before an engine failure forced him to retire from the race just when he was starting to reel in the front three.

And a little further down the order, defending world champion Marc Marquez battled back through the field to finish fifth after taking a long-lap penalty during the race following his Sprint crash with Fabio Di Giannantonio. The Italian polesitter finished one place ahead of Marquez, in fourth.

Bezzecchi's win means he has won all three Grand Prix races so far this season, and extends his Grand Prix win streak to five races. It also means he returned to the top of the MotoGP championship standings, four points ahead of Martin.

It was a weekend to forget for world champion Marc Marquez, who crashed out of the Sprint and was hit with a long-lap penalty for the Grand Prix as a result.

It meant his chances of victory were nixed before the lights went out, but in typical Marquez fashion he battled through the field to limit the damage as he finished fifth after a gutsy ride.

Despite that strong personal performance, he admitted to TNT Sports that his poor Saturday effectively ruined any chances of a successful Sunday.

Suzi Perry cuts through the punditry to say what everyone else is thinking after the TNT Sports team rewatches Jorge Martin's incredible save during the Grand Prix race in Austin.

Marco Bezzecchi admitted he had to reassess his riding style after his Sprint race crash as he reflected on his dominant performance to win the Grand Prix race in Austin.

KTM's Pedro Acosta finished third in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix in Texas, but a penalty for tyre pressure issues meant he only got to claim the spoils of the latter finish.

It meant the weekend was a bit of a mixed bag for the Spaniard, whose hard-riding style saw him battling with the factory Aprilias during the race.

The weekend was a huge win for Aprilia's Jorge Martin, who bounced back from his career-threatening injuries to claim victory in the Sprint, then deliver another strong showing in the Grand Prix race to take second in an Aprilia 1-2.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the race, the Spanish ace admitted he has been blown away by the turnaround in his fortunes.

Team manager of the satellite Trackhouse Aprilia team Davide Brivio could not hide his disappointment after Ai Ogura's late retirement from the race. But he tried his best to accentuate the positives as his team, and his rider, produced a strong performance in Austin.

Factory Aprilia team boss Massimo Rivola took the time out of his interview with TNT Sports to publicly issue an apology to the satellite Trackhouse Aprilia team for the engine issue that forced a charging Ai Ogura out of a race that potentially could have ended with the Japanese rider, and his team, celebrating a podium finish.

"If you'll allow me first, I would like to apologise with the Trackhouse and Ai Ogura, because I think he had the pace to be on the podium [or] even more, who can say?" he said.

"So again, sorry. I'm really sorry for him, for Justin [Marks, team founder] and Davide [Brivio, team manager] and for all the team."

Marco Bezzecchi arrived in parc ferme a happy and relieved man after bouncing back from his unforced error in the Sprint to win the Grand Prix in Austin.

"I'm happy. I'm very happy, because yesterday, as you saw, I made a mistake, and it was important to make a good race today. So very, very happy," said Bezzecchi after his lights-to-flag victory.

"The mood here in Texas was amazing. I want to thank all the fans for the support. They've been amazing with me.

"The whole team yesterday was close to me. I was very sad, and they gave me an extra push to try to bounce back today. So, [I'm] very happy. Happy for Jorge [Martin], as well. He deserves everything, and yeah, let's try to keep it like this."

Sprint winner Jorge Martin came close to challenging team-mate Marco Bezzecchi for the win, but ultimately ran out of laps as he had to content himself with a second-placed finish in the Grand Prix race in Austin.

"This weekend was amazing," he said in parc ferme.

"The bike was great. Thanks to everybody.

"Marco, today, was unbeatable. I did my best [but] he was another level. I tried to catch him, but I think the first laps being behind was where I lost the race."

Pedro Acosta paid tribute to his KTM mechanics for piecing his bike back together following his warm-up crash as he celebrated finishing third in the Grand Prix in Austin.

"I'm happy because the guys had to make a completely new bike after my crash in warm-up," he said in parc ferme.

"The heroes for the weekend are these boys that are wearing orange clothing for this.

"I'm happy we are inside the podium again. I was not happy yesterday about my penalty, but anyway, today we turned around or this. We have to be happy."

4. Fabio Di Giannantonio

5. Marc Marquez

6. Enea Bastianini

7. Alex Marquez

8. Raul Fernandez

9. Luca Marini

10. Francesco Bagnaia

11. Fermin Aldeguer

12. Brad Binder

13. Danilo Moreira

14. Franco Morbidelli

15. Toprak Razgatlioglu

16. Jack Miller

17. Fabio Quartararo

18. Alex Rins

Marco Bezzecchi controlled the pace brilliantly and held off his late-charging team-mate Jorge Martin to lead home a 1-2 finish for the factory Aprilia team in Austin.

With Martin claiming the Sprint victory and Bezzecchi the Grand Prix win, it underscored the level of dominance that Aprilia have enjoyed here in Texas this weekend.

Joining Bezzecchi and Martin on the podium is Pedro Acosta, who will be hoping there is no repeat of his tyre pressure issues and he gets to keep his place on the third step this time around.

It looks like Marco Bezzecchi has been controlling the pace out front. With Jorge Martin hunting him down, he's upped his pace and now leads by 1.2 seconds as we head into the final lap.

The drama looks like it'll be in the battle for fifth, as Marc Marquez tries to hold off the charging – and ALWAYS aggressive – Enea Bastianini.

Jorge Martin has closed the gap to Marco Bezzecchi out front, and is just one second behind his Aprilia teammate as we enter the final few laps of this race.
Has Bezzecchi been preserving his tyres, or is Martin upping the pace at just the right time?

We're about to find out!

The best action on track right now is the battle for fifth, as KTM's Enea Bastianini goes elbow to elbow with the factory Ducati duo of Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia.

"The Beast" is duffing up the Ducatis at every opportunity, but every time it looks like he's got the better of Marquez, the multi-time world champion passes him back in the very next corner.

Just when it looked like Ai Ogura was prepping for a late battle for a podium finish, the Japanese ace's bike appears to have hit some sort of issue.

He's out of contention, and quite possibly out of the race.

Elsewhere, Marquez has surged through the field and is now SIXTH, and right on the tail of his teammate Pecco Bagnaia.

Pedro Acosta is now in third after braking just a little too late for Turn 1 and leaving the door open for Jorge Martin to slip through into second.

They're battling back and forth, and closing them down is none other than Ai Ogura, who is absolutely flying in fourth.

Ogura just out-muscled Di Giannantonio – a rare feat indeed – as he won the battle of the late brakers to make the pass and move up to fourth.

Ogura is now 2.9 seconds behind the leaders. The previous lap, it was 3.5.

Hold on to your hats, we're in for another grandstand finish, and we still have six laps to go here in Austin.

TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson says Ai Ogura has the pace to catch the leaders, but there's still a LOT for the Japanese racer to do.

He's caught Di Giannantonio, and he'll need to get past him quickly in order to make a proper run at the front three.

Meanwhile, further down the field, the fastest man on the circuit is... Marc Marquez.