Big Marquez crash kicks off Austin MotoGP weekend

A nasty crash for MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez punctuated the opening practice session at a soaking wet Circuit of the Americas.

Key moments:

• Moribdelli leads the way
• Marquez shrugs off shunt
• Aprilia has a shocker

The session ran in full wet conditions, as had been forecast pre-weekend, and the usual wet-weather specialists quickly rose to the fore, with Marquez among them.

But the Ducati rider was thrown off his Desmosedici coming through Turn 2 after just over 10 minutes of running - marking his first crash of the 'regular season', though not his first in Ducati factory red as he had already had one in the pre-season.

THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY! 😱 @marcmarquez93 highsides at T2 after setting a new fastest lap! #AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/sKomaKCNVH

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 28, 2025

Though sudden, the crash was one Marquez appeared to shrug off quite easily, and he was back out later in the session and lapping fast again.

But it was fellow Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli who headed the proceedings in the end, 0.083s up on Pramac Yamaha's Jack Miller and a quarter of a second up on Marquez.

Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Pedro Acosta (KTM) completed a top five filled with rain specialists, followed by third-in-the-championship Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) and second-in-the-championship Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati).

Maverick Vinales and Brad Binder made it three KTMs in the top nine, while Augusto Fernandez - standing in for the injured Miguel Oliveira at Pramac - had a very credible start in 10th.

On the other hand, it was a deeply unimpressive session for Aprilia, the winning manufacturer at the track last year with Vinales.

When it rains, it pours 💔 Bez' horrific morning continues with a highside at T5, but he's back on his feet! #AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/8WfAtiGDFA

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 28, 2025

With the injured reigning champion Jorge Martin in attendance ahead of a hoped-for race debut with Aprilia in Lusail, Martin's team-mate Marco Bezzecchi had persistent technical issues on both of his bikes and highsided off one of them at Turn 5, getting tapped on the back by the RS-GP as he slid into the gravel.

But he - and everyone else - was still well clear of Trackhouse Aprilia rookie Ai Ogura, whose bewildering pace (nine seconds off) was reportedly attributed to low engine temperature in the rainy conditions.