Pecco Bagnaia secured his first victory of the 2025 MotoGP season at COTA after Ducati teammate Marc Marquez crashed out while leading comfortably.
Marquez, aiming to extend his perfect win record, started strong from pole and built a two-second lead by lap nine. However, a mistake at Turn 4 sent him down, handing Bagnaia a clear path to victory.
Alex Marquez finished second, making him the new championship leader, just one point ahead of his older brother. Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the podium in third, while Franco Morbidelli secured fourth.
Pre-race drama unfolded when rain led most riders to fit wet tyres, but Brad Binder, Enea Bastianini, and Ai Ogura gambled on slicks. Chaos ensued minutes before the start as Marc Marquez ran off the grid to swap to his dry bike, prompting several others to follow and delaying the race.
Despite the incident, the grid order remained unchanged, and Marquez quickly took the holeshot. Bagnaia fought past Alex Marquez for second on lap four but had to wait until Marquez’s crash to take the lead.
Jack Miller finished as the top Yamaha in fifth, with Marco Bezzecchi climbing from 13th to sixth for Aprilia. Enea Bastianini (seventh), Luca Marini (eighth), Ai Ogura (ninth), and Fabio Quartararo (tenth) rounded out the top ten. Quartararo had earlier crashed his dry bike on the sighting lap.
Further down, Alex Rins, Raul Fernandez, Augusto Fernandez, Maverick Vinales, and Lorenzo Savadori claimed the final points. Vinales had to start from pit lane due to a last-minute bike issue.
Marc Marquez attempted to rejoin after his crash but retired on lap 13 due to a broken fairing and missing footpeg. The race also saw crashes from Fermin Aldeguer, Pedro Acosta, Joan Mir, and Johann Zarco, while Brad Binder retired with technical issues.
