Football and Texas are as synonymous as no common sense and government so for this MotoGP Austin 2025 Race Report, describing the round in football terms, the headlines would read, “Marquez throws pick 6, Bagnia capitalizes for the win!”
If it weren’t for the pre-race drama, that would certainly have been enough, but it wasn’t and there was undoubtedly more drama pre-race, than an episode of General Hospital during the early 80’s, during the Luke and Laura escapades!
The curveball in all of this was the weather. The wet stuff showed up at MotoGP Austin 2025 like an uninvited relative at Thanksgiving. Even then, it looked like The Marquez show, reminiscent of the mid-90s Dallas Cowboys, they just took names and won Super Bowls. Marquez was doing the same, leading every practice, qualifying, and a scorching Sprint Race. Nothing seemed to slow the King of COTA, weather be damned!
But… Not so fast.
Sunday was supposed to be nice and Texasie, meaning hot on top of hot, with a scoop of humidity on top. Of course, the weather had other ideas as rain almost interrupted the Moto3 race. It made its presence felt in the Moto2 race, but that didn’t stop Jake Dixon from doing his best Michael Phelps impression and demolishing the field.
Come MotoGP race time, the weather was about as indecisive as a teenager purchasing a set of sneakers. This is where it gets tricky.
MotoGP Austin 2025 Race Report – The Gamble
With a track that was drying, but with clouds that were trying to maybe tell a different story, tyre choice was crucial. The MotoGP Austin 2025 grid reflected this with some riders going with rain tyres and others crossing their fingers and going with slicks.
Marquez then pulled a move that I’d never seen before. With three minutes left until the sighting lap, Marquez does his best Usain Bolt impression and sprints off the grid toward his garage to use his second bike which was equipped with slicks.
If Marquez was the only one doing this, he would’ve had a ride-thru penalty, but if ten or more riders did the same and followed suit? Then, no harm, no foul.
Weird? Ya’ damn right it is?
Cheeky? Perhaps.
Gamesmanship? Ya’ damn right it was.
Marquez’s gamble paid off as a good ten riders did their best monkey see, monkey do impression and changed to slicks. It was pure anarchy, MotoGP style. Some teams cried foul, insisting it wasn’t fair as they gambled also before coming to the grid. The chaos resulted in a red flag, delaying the start while officials sorted things out.
In the end, Marquez gambled correctly until a turn 5 crash, ended his hopes of another COTA victory and breaking his 2025 season winning streak.
In American Football terms, all Marquez had to do was run out the clock as victory was his. Alas, he decided to pad the score and threw a pick 6, cementing a Bagnaia victory and gifting his brother Alex the lead in the championship, as he finished runner-up for the third race in a row.
This MotoGP Austin 2025 win also gave Bagnaia a shot of confidence he needed as the two-wheeled rodeo heads to Qatar where Bagnaia will be a favorite He damn near sealed the title in 2023 there and it’s one of the few tracks where Marquez has yet to tame.
So strap in GP Freaks, this championship just got a tad bit more interesting!
Images: Anthony Watt
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