Marquez penalised for di Giannantonio clash in US GP sprint

Marc Marquez has been slapped with a long-lap grid penalty for the opening-lap clash with Fabio di Giannantonio that left both riders on the ground in the US GP sprint.

Marquez was trying to repass di Giannantonio for third place at the end of the back straight, but couldn’t slow his bike down in time into Turn 12, falling and taking out an innocent di Giannantonio.

The stewards deemed Marquez responsible for the collision and the reigning world champion will have to serve a long lap in the early stages of Sunday's grand prix at Austin.

“On 28 th March 2026 at 15:13:58 during the MotoGP™ Sprint of the RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE UNITED STATES at Turn 12 you caused a crash, involving rider #49. This contravenes the specific instructions given to MotoGP™ competitors and teams,” the stewards’ statement read.

“It is therefore an infringement of Article 1.21.2 of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship Regulations. Sanction: For the above reasons, the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel has imposed a Long Lap Penalty. The Long Lap Penalty shall be served by the rider in the next Grand Prix race in the Championship* (in accordance with articles 3.2.1 and 3.3.2.3 of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship Regulations).

“Following the Penalty Protocols issued to teams, this action was deemed to be an incident of Type MGPCC5: START OF THE RACE / OPENING LAP. Actions that create a dangerous situation for multiple riders and/or causing a crash. 

“As a first offence for the season, on the opening lap, and in this instance without consequence to multiple riders, the appropriate penalty in this case is a Long Lap Penalty.”

Marquez was battling with polesitter di Giannantonio for third in Saturday’s race at Austin after the latter lost places to both Francesco Bagnaia and Pedro Acosta at the start.

Marquez initially grabbed third place from the Italian, but the latter fought back through Turn 7 to reinstate the status quo.

Eager to get an upper hand in the battle, Marquez divebombed di Giannantonio into Turn 12 but couldn’t stop the bike into the tight left-hander and fell on the asphalt. Di Giannantonio had nowhere to go and went down with him, taking two lead riders out of victory contention.

The VR46 rider remounted on his factory-spec Ducati and rejoined the track at the back of the field, but pulled out of the race just two laps later.

Marquez rejoined the field a lap down and even managed to finish the race, albeit well outside the points-scoring positions in 17th.

The clash between Marquez and di Giannantonio followed two intense battles between the pair over the Brazilian GP weekend.

Marquez denied di Giannantonio a victory at the Goiania sprint when the latter made a late mistake, but di Giannantonio avenged that loss a day later by beating the world champion to third in the grand prix.

Acosta loses podium to penalty

Meanwhile, Pedro Acosta fell foul of MotoGP’s technical regulations after breaching the minimum tyre pressure requirements in the sprint.

As per standard procedure, eight seconds were added to the KTM rider’s race time, leaving him eighth in the updated classification.

His Tech3 stablemate Enea Bastianini was the biggest beneficiary of the penalty, inheriting third and the final spot on the podium behind race winner Jorge Martin (Aprilia) and Bagnaia (Ducati).