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The Italian couldn\u2019t have done much more in Portugal and Valencia to close 2025, nor Thailand or Brazil to open \u201926. Three poles, four wins, all 101 Grand Prix laps led<\/a>; it\u2019s uncharted territory for both rider and machine, but a run that now faces its biggest test as MotoGP heads north from Goiania last weekend to Austin for the Grand Prix of the Americas. <\/p>\n In Texas, since MotoGP first visited the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in 2013, there\u2019s historically been only one sheriff. <\/p>\n Either Marc Marquez beats everyone, or Marc Marquez beats himself. <\/p>\n The reigning world champion took his first MotoGP victory in just his second race in the category in 2013, won for the following four years, then crashed out of the lead in 2019 \u2013 the only race he didn\u2019t finish on the podium that season. <\/p>\n He somehow won \u2013 between shoulder surgeries and nowhere near fit \u2013 in 2021, then recovered to sixth after dropping all the way to the back of the pack after botching the start in 2022. He missed 2023 with injury, then crashed \u2013 from the lead \u2013 twice in the past two years.<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n \u2018FEEL SORRY FOR HIM\u2019 <\/a> Yamaha boss sympathetic as Miller\u2019s milestone falls flat<\/p>\n UP, THEN OUT?<\/a> How MotoGP\u2019s most restless champ is back as a formidable force<\/p>\n If Marquez remains upright, there\u2019s typically been only one outcome at COTA; between them, Aprilia quartet Bezzecchi, his resurgent factory teammate Jorge Martin<\/a>, and Trackhouse Aprilia duo Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura have yet to stand on the Austin podium, let alone its top step. <\/p>\n It\u2019s why, even as his team basked in the glow of just its second-ever 1-2 finish in Brazil last Sunday, Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola grabbed a handful of brake when asked if his outfit has replaced Ducati as MotoGP\u2019s hunted, rather than being the hunter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe role is still the same, two race weekends don\u2019t change Aprilia\u2019s status,\u201d Rivola reasoned. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve certainly changed the standings \u2026 but our job is to stay focused every day. We\u2019ve started off on the right foot, but we\u2019re heading to one of the many tracks around the world that\u2019s Marc\u2019s home turf. We\u2019re not used to being in the lead.\u201d <\/p>\n COTA offers a jarring contrast to the tight, twisty Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna circuit in Brazil last weekend, its 14 corners crammed into just 3.8km. COTA \u2013 5.5km and 20 corners with a 1200-metre back straight where the bikes will hit nearly 350km\/h \u2013 plays right into Marquez\u2019s wheelhouse, the 11 left-hand corners and the esses in the first sector in particular feeling like they were designed with the 33-year-old\u2019s strongest suit in mind. <\/p>\n Add to that Michelin\u2019s more \u2018standard\u2019 rear tyre allocation for Austin \u2013 the first two rounds in Thailand and Brazil required the use of the stiffer Michelin rubber to combat the baking track conditions for both circuits, which helped the more pliable Aprilia with its better feeling under braking and stability in acceleration \u2013 and you can see why Rivola, and his riders, won\u2019t be quite as bullish this weekend as last. <\/p>\n Marquez, too, will be another week further along in his recovery from right shoulder surgery following his season-ending crash in Indonesia last October, which saw him miss the final four rounds after he\u2019d clinched his seventh premier-class title in Japan a week earlier. Coming to one of his happiest hunting grounds after what, for Marquez, was an outlier of a result in fourth last weekend \u2013 his first non-podium in a Grand Prix where he\u2019s seen the chequered flag in 11 months \u2013 will mean motivation will be high to stop Aprilia\u2019s winning ways, and could reset the season ahead of the four-week break before the Spanish Grand Prix in late April.<\/p>\n Others \u2013 KTM\u2019s Pedro Acosta, most notably \u2013 will undoubtedly be in the mix. But we\u2019ll know on Monday if 2026 as a whole really is developing into something Marquez has rarely been in Texas, an underdog who needs to dig deeper to retain what he reclaimed in 2025 after six years in an injury-prompted wilderness. <\/p>\n \u2018Away\u2019 fixtures don\u2019t come much tougher for Aprilia, which is why this weekend shapes as so instructive for what\u2019s to follow.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s your Friday form guide to the third round of the 2026 MotoGP season, with the 19-lap Grand Prix of the Americas set for 7am (AEDT) on Monday after the 10-lap sprint race at 7am Sunday (AEDT). <\/p>\n The story behind SA hosting MotoGP | 02:13<\/p>\n TOO EARLY FOR TITLE TALK, SAYS RAMPAGING ITALIAN<\/p>\n Bezzecchi arrives in Texas on the verge of adding his name to an elite list reserved for the very best in MotoGP history, with the 27-year-old Italian chasing a ninth premier-class success this weekend. <\/p>\n The Aprilia rider would need to lead just the first three laps on Sunday to surpass Jorge Lorenzo\u2019s modern-day MotoGP consecutive laps led record of 103, set for Yamaha between the Spanish and Catalan Grands Prix in 2015, while a fifth victory in succession would see him join Marquez and Valentino Rossi as the only riders to win five straight since the dawn of the MotoGP category in 2002; Marquez and Rossi each achieved that feat three times.<\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: Renita and Matt review Brazil\u2019s chaotic return to the calendar after a 22-year absence, discuss what Marco Bezzecchi\u2019s fourth straight win does to the championship picture, and ponder if Jorge Martin is really back to his old self. Listen to Pit Talk below.<\/p>\n With a career-best result of just sixth at the Texan track, the Aprilia rider was preaching caution in Thursday\u2019s pre-event press conference. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel good, I feel happy \u2026 it\u2019s of course been a good moment, but now we start another race weekend \u2013 it\u2019s always a new chapter,\u201d Bezzecchi said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe [still have] 40 races between sprints and GPs, I think it\u2019s a little bit early,\u201d he added, when asked if he felt like the favourite for the title. <\/p>\n \u201cMarc [Marquez] in this track has always been amazing \u2026 I think he has more wins in this track than me in my MotoGP career, so it will not be an easy weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love to be competitive for all the season, it\u2019s my target \u2026 but at the moment I don\u2019t want to make my mind full of these kinds of thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n Marquez, chasing his 100th victory across all world championship classes in Austin, was the most recent rider to win the first three races of a season, which came in 2014 when he opened the defence of his maiden world title with 10 successive victories. <\/p>\n On Thursday \u2013 while pointedly calling Bezzecchi \u201cthe favourite because he\u2019s leading the championship\u201d \u2013 the Spaniard said he felt like he was getting back towards full fitness after being cautious with his recovery following last year\u2019s surgery on the right shoulder that has been operated on four times since 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time we are closer and closer \u2013 in Thailand I was far [but] in Brazil I was a bit closer,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s see if in the next races, I don\u2019t know if here or Jerez [Spain], but the target is be more consistent during the race distance. <\/p>\n \u201cWe showed in the qualifying practice [that] we have the speed, but we need to find the way to be more consistent and to make the lap times in an easier way.<\/p>\n \u201c[COTA] is a track that I love, but it\u2019s a track that I haven\u2019t won at in the last four years. We will try to stop [Bezzecchi\u2019s] performance, but it will be difficult because at the moment he is the fastest rider out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Marquez led comfortably in Austin last year before crashing out of first place in Texas for the second successive season. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n MILLER\u2019S TWO-PRONGED APPROACH THE \u2018KEY\u2019, SAYS FELLOW AUSSIE<\/p>\n MotoGP race-winner Chris Vermeulen has paid credit to compatriot Jack Miller\u2019s adaptability, after the Pramac Yamaha rider became the first Australian and just the 10th rider ever to reach 200 premier-class starts<\/a> in Brazil last weekend. <\/p>\n Vermeulen, winner of the 2007 French Grand Prix for Suzuki, told Fox Sports\u2019MotorRacing 360 that the 31-year-old\u2019s evolution from teenage tearaway to a rider renowned for his technical acumen has extended his career, and is critical for Yamaha as it attempts to climb its way out of the MotoGP basement.<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n TALKING POINTS<\/a> Brazil fairytale turns to farce as prisoner move exposes mayhem<\/p>\n RACE REPORT <\/a> Italian surges to series lead after winning shortened GP in Brazil<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s very good at developing a bike \u2026 some riders just want to go fast [but] he goes fast and has an understanding of what\u2019s underneath him, which helps a lot,\u201d Vermeulen said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can give that feedback and work with the engineers and improve to bring the whole project forward, that\u2019s nearly as important as winning races. That\u2019s Jack\u2019s key now. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s 31 years old, so getting to the later stages of his Grand Prix career, one of the elder statesmen in the category, but with his development prowess \u2026 he\u2019s ridden the Honda, the Ducati, the KTM, and he\u2019s bringing that information to Yamaha. <\/p>\n \u201cYamaha changed dramatically this year, they\u2019ve had an inline-four motorcycle for so long and they\u2019ve gone to a V4, completely different configuration. They brought it out very quickly, so they\u2019re on the back foot at the moment. But Miller has ridden a few V4s over his career, so that information that he can bring to them really helps.\u201d <\/p>\n Miller will be focused on bouncing back after a 200th Grand Prix to forget in Brazil last weekend. (Photo by EVARISTO SA \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n