Marc Marquez’s COTA struggles have Thomas Luthi ringing alarm bells at Ducati
Photo by Gold & Goose Photography/Getty Images Thomas Luthi believes that alarm bells will now be sounding at Ducati, after Marc Marquez failed to make a difference at COTA and can no longer hide the team’s weaknesses. Marquez, who has dominated the Circuit of the Americas with seven MotoGP wins between 2013 and 2018, wasn’t in the hunt for victory at this year’s United States Grand Prix, even without considering his long lap penalty. The FIM stewards handed Marquez a long lap penalty following an incident during the Sprint Race where he collided with VR46 rival Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Marquez crashed after braking too late into Turn 12, taking Di Giannantonio out on the opening lap. After serving his penalty, Marquez dropped from seventh to eleventh but managed to climb back up to finish fifth. He ended up 8.
100 seconds behind race winner Marco Bezzecchi and 3. 603 seconds off KTM’s Pedro Acosta in third place. Photo by Gold & Goose Photography/Getty Images Aprilia’s RS-GP edges out Ducati GP26 as Marquez struggles to make an impact at COTA Marc Marquez has been a force at the Circuit of the Americas, winning seven times since 2013.
His streak included every race between 2013 and 2018, but he couldn’t challenge for the win in the 2026 Grand Prix, even without his long lap penalty. Luthi pointed to Marquez’s inability to make a difference on the GP26 around COTA as a bigger issue for Ducati than his final position. Aprilia didn’t just win; they showed up with clear control of the event.
Jorge Martin took the Sprint and helped complete an Aprilia one-two in the main race. Luthi sees it as more proof that Aprilia now have the superior bike. “It was clearly visible that the Aprilia turned much better,” Luthi told Motorsport-Magazin.