AUSTIN (Reuters) -Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia won a chaotic Americas Grand Prix ahead of Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez on Sunday after leader Marc Marquez crashed halfway through the race to lose for the first time this season.
Marquez had clinched pole position in qualifying as well as a third straight sprint victory on Saturday, but after a first crash on the red Ducati, the six-times MotoGP champion opted to retire due to extensive damage on his bike.
Although Bagnaia took the chequered flag to move up to 75 points, Alex Marquez will leave Austin with the bigger smile as finishing second moved him to the top of the championship on 87 points, one point ahead of his elder brother Marc.
Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 Racing tried to catch up to Alex but ran out of laps as he finished third to give Ducati another clean sweep of the podium.
“I’m super happy, I’m already without (my) voice, I screamed out loud,” Bagnaia said after he had a celebratory hot dog in the paddock.
“What a fantastic feeling, to be back on the top step of the podium after such a difficult period.”
Even before the race began, there was chaos when the sun briefly came out and riders who had opted for wet tyres suddenly sprinted back to the pits to swap their bikes, opting for slicks on a drying track, leading to a red flag.
When the 19-lap race eventually got underway, Marc Marquez had a perfect launch off the line, leading his brother and Bagnaia before he peeled away and established a lead of over a second by the end of the opening lap.
Bagnaia had been finishing behind the Marquez brothers in previous races and sprints, and the Italian was determined to finish higher, using Alex’s slipstream to overtake the Gresini rider and take second place on lap four.
MARC CRASHES
Marc looked to be in cruise control as he set a race lap record but the Spaniard suddenly slid off the track on lap nine, seeing his hopes of a record-extending eighth victory at the Circuit of the Americas go up in smoke.
Behind him, Bagnaia’s eyes lit up and the twice world champion grabbed the opportunity to close the gap to his teammate in the championship, extending his lead over Alex as the race wore on.
Marc attempted to ride on without a foot peg and a screen but less than five laps later, he gave up and nursed his bike back into the pits to retire.
Bagnaia eventually won with a two-second lead over Alex, who had no problem finishing second for a third straight race.
“Now we are leading the championship, something that is really great. We are Mr Seconds, but (being) Mr Seconds also pays off,” Alex said with a grin.
For Di Giannantonio, it was a first podium since 2023 in Qatar, where the next round will be held.
“I’m just speechless, tired… Honestly, I need like 200 beers this night to recover,” the Italian said.
“For sure we got a little gift from Marc. But hey, that’s racing.”
His teammate Franco Morbidelli and Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller completed the top five.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
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