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MotoGP: World champion Marc Marquez quickest in Practice at Grand Prix United States despite huge crash
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Published 27/03/2026 at 22:39 GMT
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Marc Marquez bounced back from a huge crash in Free Practice 1 to be the fastest in the following Practice session on Friday at Grand Prix United States. The Ducati Lenovo MotoGP world champion put down the fastest time of the second session to ensure he will go straight through to Q2 for Saturday's qualifying session, before the later Sprint race and Sunday's full-length event.
'That is ridiculously fast' - Marquez crashes in Free Practice at Grand Prix United States
Video credit: TNT Sports
Marc Marquez was quickest at Practice at Grand Prix United States despite a huge crash earlier on Friday.
The Ducati Lenovo rider has not been at his best so far this season, and last weekend’s Grand Prix of Brazil saw him fail to improve on his starting position on the grid - a rarity for him - as he slid from third place down to fourth, in a race won by Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi.
For Bezzecchi, that made it four wins from four Grand Prix, a run stretching back into the previous season, which began while Marquez was out of action with an injury.
Marquez has still appeared in some discomfort as he continues his rehabilitation, and TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson has suggested that the injuries will eventually take their toll on the world champion and force him to retire from the sport.
That sense was reinforced by Marquez’s huge crash in Free Practice 1 earlier in the day, which saw him skid and bounce across the gravel at scary speeds. However, he was able to walk away from the incident with a relatively minor amount of bruising.
Marquez was far from the only rider to suffer on the track with a lack of grip, and a succession of competitors had their own crashes and spills.
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'This is such an important weekend' - Martin down in Practice at Grand Prix United States
Video credit: TNT Sports
Fabio Di Giannantonio, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Franco Morbidelli, Pedro Acosta and Ai Ogura all went off early in the session, with nine riders going off in all.
However, the Ducati man was ultimately the quickest overall with a time of 2:00.927 seconds, meaning he will go directly to Q2 when he bids to secure pole position for Saturday’s Sprint, and Sunday’s full-length event.
It was far from straightforward for him, as six of his initial laps were ruled out due to yellow flags, but he ultimately found his rhythm.
Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura was second with a time of 2:00.980s, while VR46’s Di Giannantonio followed up last weekend’s pole position with third spot on the front row.
Aprilia’s Bezzecchi was fourth quickest, with Marquez’s younger brother, BK8 Gresini rider Alex Marquez - another man who crashed - fifth quickest in a strong showing for Ducati after initially struggling against Aprilia when they had recourse to heat-treated tyres earlier in the season.
KTM rider Acosta was sixth, with Bezzecchi’s team-mate Martin in seventh.
- Bezzecchi wins Grand Prix of Brazil as Marquez slips to fourth in shortened race
- ‘Didn’t put a wheel wrong’ - Hodgson lauds Bezzecchi win in Brazil
There were relatively encouraging signs for Ducati Lenovo’s other rider, Francesco Bagnaia, in eighth and also through to the second qualifying round.
Honda rider Luca Marin was ninth, and Tech 3 KTM’s Enaa Bastianini was 10th.
Bastianini’s stable-mate Maverick Vinales withdrew from the weekend’s action ahead of Practice after he confirmed he would be using a mid-season lull before Jerez in late April to resolve a problem with his left shoulder, after screws became loose in the joint.
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