15:19
Joan Mir is sporting a new helmet design for the COTA weekend.
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
15:14
MotoGP standings ahead of US Grand Prix
The MotoGP world standings after the Brazilian GP.
2026 MotoGP World Championship standings | ||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Points | Diff. | |
| 1 | ^1 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | 56 | |
| 2 | ^1 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | 45 | (-11) |
| 3 | ˅2 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 42 | (-14) |
| 4 | ^3 | Fabio di Giannantonio | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26) | 37 | (-19) |
| 5 | ^1 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | 34 | (-22) |
| 6 | ˅1 | Ai Ogura | JPN | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | 33 | (-23) |
| 7 | ˅3 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) | 29 | (-27) |
| 8 | ^7 | Alex Marquez | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26) | 13 | (-43) |
| 9 | ˅1 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 13 | (-43) |
| 10 | = | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) | 12 | (-44) |
| 11 | ^2 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V) | 12 | (-44) |
| 12 | = | Luca Marini | ITA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | 11 | (-45) |
| 13 | ˅4 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | 10 | (-46) |
| 14 | NA | Fermin Aldeguer | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) | 8 | (-48) |
| 15 | ^1 | Diogo Moreira | BRA | Pro Honda LCR (RC213V)* | 6 | (-50) |
| 16 | ˅5 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 6 | (-50) |
| 17 | ˅3 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | 5 | (-51) |
| 18 | = | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 3 | (-53) |
| 19 | ˅2 | Joan Mir | SPA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) | 3 | (-53) |
15:06
Story to watch: Maverick Vinales faces uncertain US GP
One story to keep an eye on across Friday at COTA is the potential for Maverick Vinales to withdraw from the weekend after today.
The shoulder he injured last year in Germany has continued to cause him problems, and he has not ruled out further surgery on it.
Maverick Vinales, Tech3 KTM, 2026 Brazil MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
15:02
After the chaos of the Brazil weekend, MotoGP riders should be in for a much more straightforward Friday at COTA.
One of the most intriguing changes compared to last week is the return of Michelin's standard rear tyre casing.
The stiffer rear carcass appeared to benefit Aprilia while hindering Ducati. Let's see if this has an impact on the pecking order.
15:00
2026 US MotoGP: FP1 build-up
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the 2026 MotoGP United States Grand Prix.
FP1 kicks off MotoGP track action at COTA at 3:45pm GMT.