Bezzecchi: “Satisfied, steps forward taken. Marquez? I didn’t see him, I slowed down because those in front had stopped”

Bezzecchi starts 2nd in Austin

In Austin, Marco Bezzecchi had to give a symbolic and practical response to Marc Marquez. And, judging by the COTA Qualifying, this response has arrived: the Bez confirms himself on the front row, second only to a great Fabio Di Giannantonio, while the king of Texas is only sixth.

Read more Impeding Marquez: 2 positions for Bezzecchi and Marini, penalty to be served in the GP. Marc escapes penalty in the incident with Bastianini

Bezzecchi’s words

The championship leader pays for a crash in the snake in the final stages of FP2 which forces him to use only one bike for the pole position assault. Difficult to quantify the disadvantage, but for the Romagnolo, second place is very good: “I’m happy, it was a tough qualifying, and the morning was also hard“, this was his comment to Sky Sport MotoGP.

“It went well, because we managed to take a step forward compared to yesterday, it’s always good when you improve a little bit. Here it wasn’t easy to get a good time, because I only had one bike, then it’s a long track where it’s easy to make some small mistakes“.

Read more 2026 United States GP: the Sprint report

Bezzecchi does not want to comment on the incident with Marquez at turn-12, which could be judged as impeding by the stewards: “I don’t know, I didn’t even see it, I slowed down because in front of me they practically stopped, so I have no idea“. On the Sprint he has much clearer ideas: “It will certainly be very hard, let’s see how the day evolves with the temperature, which will be an important factor for choosing the right tire“.

Read more 2026 United States GP, Sprint finishing order: Martin powers past Bagnaia, Jorge is the new leader! Bez down, Marquez takes out Di Giannantonio