Marc Marquez continued his perfect start to the season as he earned a close-fought MotoGP Sprint victory in Austin.
Marquez had to face challenges from Gresinis Alex Marquez and teammate Francesco Bagnaia, but eventually prevailed to earn a first Sprint win at the Circuit of the Americas.
The front row got a good initial launch, but it was Bagnaia who took the lead from sixth on the grid into the first corner.
Marquez was quick to respond to his fast-starting teammate and got back ahead in Turn 3 as the factory Ducatis duelled throughout the first lap.
The battle between the pair allowed Gresinis Marquez to get onto the back of the duo as he joined the fight for the lead.
The Gresini rider looked to make a move for the lead of the race, but was blocked by his brother as Bagnaia returned to the head of the pack.
Ducatis Marquez regained the lead but was forced into a save at Turn 17, which brought both Bagnaia and the younger Marquez back into the battle, but the Spanish rider eased back into the lead.
While the Ducatis were battling out front, Fabio Quartararo made a fantastic start to gain six places on the opening lap and moved past Pedro Acosta into fourth.
Quartararo’s progress allowed him to get onto the back of Bagnaia, who dropped back from the leading pair after their early battle.
However, the Frenchman made an error and was forced into a save, losing ground to Bagnaia and handing fourth place to Morbidelli.
Joan Mir had made good progress throughout the weekend but crashed out of seventh place, promoting Acosta back up the order.
Di Giannantonio was the next to make his way through on Quartararo, and then set his sights on teammate Morbidelli ahead.
The VR46 riders then duelled for fourth position, which allowed the Frenchman onto the back of the pair as Di Giannantonio took the advantage.
Quartararo then managed to get past his former teammate, but the Italian used the superior pace of the Ducati to get back through on the Yamaha.
The duel continued until the final corner of the seventh lap, with Morbidelli eventually getting the better of Quartararo.
Out front, Marquez ensured his dominant start to the season continued as he took the chequered flag to make it three Sprint victories from three.
The younger Marquez kept up his record of second place finishes in 2025 as he crossed the line 0.795s behind his brother.
Bagnaia took third place, meaning that the Sprint podium remained the same for the opening three rounds of the campaign.
The VR46 riders finished fourth and fifth respectively, with Di Giannantonio leading Morbidelli to the finish.
Quartararo established sixth place to end the Sprint as the top non-Ducati rider ahead of Acosta in seventh.
Luca Marini continued Honda’s momentum as he took eighth as Ai Ogura scored the last point in ninth.
Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the top ten for Aprilia, two tenths clear of Fermin Aldeguer in 11th.
Brad Binder was 12th after a solid Sprint showing ahead of Enea Bastianini in 13th, as the Italian pipped Jack Miller to the line.
Alex Rins earned 15th for Yamaha while LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco took 16th over Raul Fernandez.
Augusto Fernandez put in a strong showing as a stand-in rider in 18th ahead of rookie Somkiat Chantra in 19th.
Lorenzo Savadori had a long lap penalty at the end of the race and rounded out the finishers in 20th.
Last year’s race winner Maverick Vinales did not finish the Sprint due to a technical problem, while Mir also failed to finish due to his crash at Turn 7.
