16:14
Marquez's second bike is being prepared, so that would suggest he is fit enough to come back out sometime in the final 20 minutes of this session.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Corse, 2026 US MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
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
16:12
Pecco Bagnaia has moved up to sixth with just under 25 minutes to go. He won the COTA race last year, which was just one of two he chalked up in 2025.
16:09
Interesting start to this COTA weekend so far. We have KTM, Ducati and Aprilia top three in the standings, 0.113s covering them.
A very long way to go, of course.
16:06
Standings with 30 minutes to go:
- Pedro Acosta - 2m02.595s
- Fabio Di Giannantonio
- Pecco Bagnaia
- Marco Bezzecchi
- Alex Marquez
- Raul Fernandez
- Enea Bastianini
- Jorge Martin
- Franco Morbidelli
- Brad Binder
16:04
Marquez now looks like he's headed out the back of the garage again.
16:04
Marquez has made it back to the Ducati garage. Dr. Angel Charte is on the scene to check him over.
16:00
Green flag: FP1 back underway
The red flag has been withdrawn and the session is back underway.
16:00
Watch: Marc Marquez's 190km/h COTA FP1 crash
Watch Marquez's crash below. That was a scary one. Let's hope the reigning champion is unscathed.
15:58
Marquez is on a scooter now and shaking his left hand.
15:57
Marquez lost the bike going into the fast downhill left at Turn 10 and bounced violently through the gravel. He and his bike went all the way to the air fence.
He has been able to get up under his own steam.
Marquez lost the bike at 190km/h!
15:56
Red flag: Marc Marquez crashes
The red flag is out.
Marc Marquez has had a fast crash at Turn 10.
15:55
Acosta nearly crashed at Turn 11 on his KTM. Big save, that, from the Spaniard.
15:54
Times keep tumblin' in these early stages of FP1. Acosta has now gone fastest with a 2m02.595s.
15:52
Everyone is out on the medium rear tyre at this stage.
15:52
Marco Bezzecchi hits the front now with a 2m03.014s.
15:50
First laps on the board and it's Pecco Bagnaia who leads the way with a 2m04.456s.
15:49
It's lovely out there for FP1. 23 degrees C air temp, track temp up at 30 degrees C already.
15:48
Marquez hasn't been at 100% fitness with his right shoulder yet this season, but the anticlockwise layout of COTA will help ease this.
15:47
All eyes are on Marc Marquez this weekend, as he looks to get his first grand prix podium of the season at a track he has won at seven times since 2013.
15:45
2026 US MotoGP: FP1 begins
Pitlane is open for the start of the 45-minute FP1 session. And no one is wasting any time in getting out there.
15:42
VR46 will have a new livery for this weekend, though we won't see that until race day.
15:37
This FP1 session will be Toprak Razgatlioglu's first at COTA since 2013, when he was in Red Bull Rookies Cup!
15:35
10 minutes until pitlane goes green at COTA.
15:33
COTA lap record under threat?
The lap record at COTA is a 2m00.864s set by Maverick Vinales in 2024 on an Aprilia.
It seems very likely we will see our first 1m59s lap at COTA this weekend, possibly even as soon as this afternoon's Practice.
15:31
The chequered flag has come out in the Moto2 FP1 session, meaning MotoGP's first track action of the weekend is just 15 minutes away.
Celestino Vietti was fastest on a 2m06.724s.