Austin (Texas, USA), 28 March 2026 - The Sprint race on the Circuit of The Americas ended with Jorge Martín’s first win with Aprilia Racing. The Spanish rider, after starting from the seventh spot on the grid, built a solid race lap after lap, progressively making up ground until catching up with the leader on the final lap and executing a decisive pass which gave him the Sprint race victory.
On the other hand, it was a more complicated Sprint race for Marco Bezzecchi who, after starting from the second spot on the grid, crashed out during the eighth lap from the second-place position.
It was also a positive day for Trackhouse MotoGP Team, with Ai Ogura finishing sixth and Raúl Fernández seventh, taking two RS-GP machines into the top ten.
JORGE MARTÍN, #89: “Starting from behind and winning anyway makes it even better, because everything is right there on the edge. On that final overtake I didn’t really think about it much – I just gave it a go.
I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the medium tyre was the right choice. It was risky, because nobody else used it, but in the end it proved to be the right decision. We’re where we need to be. I’m truly happy with the work we’re doing.”
MARCO BEZZECCHI, #72: “It was a real pity. I made a mistake that I shouldn’t have made because I exaggerated a bit on the braking section. I was coming back well after losing some positions at the start, but I should have been more patient. Instead, I made that mistake. We’ll try to make up for it Sunday.”
FABIANO STERLACCHINI, APRILIA RACING TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: “It was quite a positive day, although it’s a shame about Marco’s crash, as he had an excellent pace. We are very pleased for Jorge, because getting him back to winning was an important goal, and we have to be satisfied. On the Trackhouse side, unfortunately a less-than-ideal qualifying compromised what could have been a very positive race for both riders.”
APRILIA RACING MOTOGP:
https://www.aprilia.com/en_EN/aprilia-racing/moto-gp/
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