Marco Bezzecchi extended his perfect run in 2026 with record-breaking victory at US MotoGP leading Aprilia 1-2 ahead of Jorge Martin.
Starting from fourth on the grid, Bezzecchi dispatched the early challenge of polesitter Pedro Acosta and then motored away with a combination of clinical pace, tire management and flawless race‑craft to secure his fifth consecutive premier‑class victory.
Backed by teammate Jorge Martin charging through the midfield to finish second, the Italian manufacturer cemented its status as the class of the field early in the 2026 MotoGP season, while Acosta salvaged third to round off a hard‑fought podium at COTA.
From the moment the lights went out in Austin, the race took on the intensity of a sprint rather than a 20‑lap MotoGP showcase.
Acosta, who had stolen pole position on Saturday, fired his KTM Factory machine off the front row with trademark aggression and grabbed the holeshot, exiting Turn 1 with a small margin.
Bezzecchi was equally alert off the line with a charge from fourth to second in the opening corners, slotting in behind the KTM, while Martin starting further back surged up to third.
The first real drama happened at Turn 11 where Acosta ran slightly wide, opening the door for Bezzecchi to dive down the inside on a tighter line. However, the two riders came together side‑by‑side down the exit, their fairings clashing and a piece of Aprilia bodywork snapping off.
Despite the contact, Bezzecchi secured the lead and immediately began to stretch his advantage lap by lap, using the Aprilia’s traction and corner‑exit stability to pull small but cumulative gaps.
Behind him, Martin tried to mount a charge on Acosta for second, briefly sneaking past the KTM with a late‑braking lunge only to be repelled as the Spaniard held his nerve and the line.
Martin’s progress was almost unsettled by a huge scare at Turn 1 where he nearly lost the front, momentarily dropping him back into the clutches of Ducati duo Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marc Márquez.
The battle for fourth and fifth was as frenetic as the lead fight, with Di Giannantonio and Márquez scrapping for position before Francesco Bagnaia sliced through to claim a place in the top five.
By the start of Lap 4, Bezzecchi had officially broken Jorge Lorenzo’s modern‑era record for most consecutive laps led in a single season, surpassing Lorenzo’s 103‑lap streak from 2015.
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Further back, Marc Márquez had to serve a Long Lap penalty carried over from an incident with Di Giannantonio in the Sprint race earlier in the weekend, dropping him to 11th.
Honda’s Joan Mir was also slapped with a Long Lap of his own for taking a shortcut in the heat of battle for fourth, but crashed out shortly after serving it, ending what had appeared like a promising comeback.
The absence of Mir and the enforced detour of Márquez opened the door for other riders to move up the order, including Ai Ogura who launched a spirited attack on Alex Márquez for sixth.
Ogura’s charge eventually brought him into the slipstream of Bagnaia and Di Giannantonio but the fairy‑tale climb was cut short by a technical issue on his Trackhouse Aprilia, forcing the Japanese rider to pull over and retire.
Meanwhile, Marquez clawed back to sixth after a double overtake on his brother Alex Márquez and Enea Bastianini on Lap 15, setting his eyes on the battle for fifth against teammate Bagnaia.
Márquez ultimately cleared Bagnaia with three laps to go, followed by Bastianini who barrelled through to take sixth as the #63 Ducati tumbled to 10th.
At the front, Bezzecchi maintained a smooth rhythm but Acosta was under pressure from Martin who ultimately executed a late‑braking move at Turn 1 to reassert his grip on second place.
Bezzecchi finally crossed the line 1.7 seconds clear of Martin to claim victory at US MotoGP, becoming the third rider of the modern era to achieve five Grand Prix wins in a row after Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez.
Acosta held firm in third, while Di Giannantonio was the leading Ducati in fourth followed by Marquez who rounded out the top five.
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