20:30
Ai Ogura goes up to second on new medium tyres.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Corse, 2026 US MotoGP
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2026 US MotoGP practice reaction LIVE: Marquez fastest after scary crash
Live text coverage of Friday at the 2026 MotoGP United States Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Marc Marquez leads Friday at COTA
- Nine crashes in Practice
- Marc Marquez has terrifying crash in FP1
- Acosta fastest in FP1
- Vinales withdraws due to shoulder injury
The 2026 MotoGP season continues with round three at the United States Grand Prix, taking place at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi arrive in America off the back of another dominant victory last time out in Brazil, with the latter leading the riders' standings ahead of team-mate Jorge Martin.
Aprilia and Bezzecchi have won the last four consecutive grands prix, with the Italian rider just three laps away from beating the all-time laps led record currently held by Jorge Lorenzo set in 2015.
Jorge Martin will be looking to build on his first podium with Aprilia in Brazil, as he continues to grow in confidence on the RS-GP.
All eyes will be on Marc Marquez and Ducati to try to quash Aprilia's dominance, with the seven-time world champion returning to one of his strongest circuits.
Marquez has won seven times at COTA in his MotoGP career, and was close to an eighth last year before he crashed out of the lead. Ducati has had a tough start to the 2026 season, but a return to the standard Michelin rear tyre construction is set to benefit the Italian marque.
KTM looks set for a tough weekend, with Pedro Acosta admitting after Brazil that the RC16 is struggling for top speed right now, and is wary of how that will impact his performance at COTA.
Tech3 KTM's Maverick Vinales may also not see out the US Grand Prix weekend as he continues to battle the effects of the left shoulder injury he suffered in a crash in Germany last July.
2026 Unites States MotoGP Friday schedule
FP1 - 3:45pm-4:30pm GMT
Practice - 8pm-9pm GMT
27 Mar 2026
20:29
Crash: Alex Marquez
Alex Marquez has gone down at Turn 1. He's ok.
20:28
Bezzecchi improves to second, but that's a decent lap from Bagnaia given it was done on a medium rear compared to the soft on the Aprilia.
20:26
We've already got a few riders out on soft rubber. That's a smart strategy, given how many crashes we've seen already and how those could potentially wreck your weekend.
Bezzecchi is one of those riders and goes up to third with a 2m02.351s.
20:25
It's clear that grip is at a bit of a premium this session because Bezzecchi had a big moment going through the fast Turns 16/17/18 right-handers on the rear.
20:23
Crash: Toprak Razgatlioglu
Toprak Razgatlioglu has had a tip-off at Turn 11, but is back up and going again.
20:21
Great mates (and future team-mates?) Marco Bezzecchi and Pecco Bagnaia share a cheeky moment in pitlane a few moments ago 😂
20:20
Top 10 after 20 minutes
- Pecco Bagnaia
- Pedro Acosta
- Alex Marquez
- Luca Marini
- Johann Zarco
- Marc Marquez
- Raul Fernandez
- Jorge Martin
- Ai Ogura
- Joan Mir
20:15
Marquez now has a legal lap of 2m02.558s, which puts him up to sixth, as Ducati team-mare Pecco Bagnaia continues to lead.
20:14
All of these yellow flags have been quite disruptive. Marc Marquez doesn't have an official lap on the board yet because they've all been scrubbed.
20:12
Ai Ogura is now under investigation for possibly crashing under yellow flags.
20:11
Crash: Ai Ogura
And Ai Ogura has gone down now, as well. He went down at Turn 18, where Acosta slid off just seconds earlier.
20:11
Crash: Pedro Acosta
Pedro Acosta has now gone down!
20:10
Morbidelli is up and walking away now. But that's four crashes inside the first 10 minutes.
20:09
Crash: Franco Morbidelli
Franco Morbidelli has had a crash at Turn 1 and looks in a bit of discomfort.
20:09
Pecco Bagnaia is having a good start to this session. He's taken over top spot now on the Ducati with a 2m02.191s.
20:08
DiGia has gotten back to his VR46 garage. Not ideal start to his race preparation, particularly given the pace he showed this morning and his past form at this track.
20:08
Track temp is touching 50C now, so it's little wonder we're seeing more crashes early in this session.
Quite a few laps already scrubbed for yellow flags, which could make later on interesting.
20:07
Meanwhile, his KTM stablemate Pedro Acosta has gone top with a 2m02.310s.
20:06
Crash: Enea Bastianini
Enea Bastianini has now gone down at Turn 12.
20:04
Crash: Fabio Di Giannantonio and Jorge Martin
Fabio Di Giannantonio and Jorge Martin have had separate crashes.
DiGia went down at Turn 11, while Martin went down at Turn 12. Martin was lucky not to wipe Brad Binder out there!
20:03
Acosta has really been embracing Texan culture.
20:00
Green flag: US MotoGP Practice begins
Pitlane is open as Practice begins.
Once again, everyone has headed out on track.
19:52
Practice is now just 10 minutes away.
Top 10 at the end of this session will progress directly into Q2.
The top 10 at the end of FP1 was:
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max |
| 1 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 2'01.715s | 14/16 | 338k |
| 2 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26) | +0.103s | 14/18 | 342k |
| 3 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | +0.221s | 13/17 | 340k |
| 4 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +0.378s | 8/9 | 342k |
| 5 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +0.495s | 12/17 | 337k |
| 6 | Alex Marquez | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26) | +0.589s | 13/16 | 339k |
| 7 | Luca Marini | ITA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | +0.650s | 14/18 | 339k |
| 8 | Ai Ogura | JPN | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | +0.673s | 14/18 | 340k |
| 9 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | +0.710s | 16/19 | 341k |
| 10 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) | +0.755s | 16/17 | 338k |
19:40
Breaking: Maverick Vinales out of COTA MotoGP
Maverick Vinales has withdrawn from the remainder of the US MotoGP weekend due to pain in his shoulder.
He is due to have surgery early next week.
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech3.
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