Safety Car CRASHES in chaotic grand prix

Start of Moto3 race at Circuit of the Americas — Photo: © IMAGO

MotoGP

Safety Car CRASHES in chaotic grand prix

Utter chaos in the third round of the MotoGP world championship

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Monday 31 March 2025 12:57 Updated: 18:10

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There may have been no Formula 1 race to round off March, as Red Bull provided the drama off track, but if it was on-track action you needed to provide an entertainment fix, it was the two-wheeled variety stepping in to fill the void with the Grand Prix of the Americas in MotoGP.

The event held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas - which also holds the equivalent F1 event - was hit by pure chaos, and that was before the race got underway!

In the slippery wet conditions, images and videos soon surfaced showing that on its way around the circuit, the safety car had crashed out and spun into a barrier causing major damage.

Article continues under video

Thankfully, it appeared there were no major injuries suffered by anyone, but the incident was large enough to result in the wrecked car being carried away on a truck. And the action didn't stop there.

Marc Marquez crashes in MotoGP drama

Just seconds before the start, world championship leader and title favourite Marc Marquez ran away from his pole position slot in a perceived planned move to outsmart his opponents and grab a bike from the pit-lane fitted with slick tyres.

However, his move led to plenty of copy-cat decisions, bringing chaos to the start procedure, leading to the cancellation of a warm up lap and a red flag.

Marquez though ended up outsmarting himself during the race, suffering a crash that saw him tumble down the order. Although he managed to resume, he later retired from the event.

That allowed Ducati rival Francesco Bagnaia to pick up a race win to fire him back into world championship contention as the season heats up.

However it was Marc Marquez's brother Alex that was arguably the big winner, as his second place in Texas means he now leads the world championship heading into the fourth round in Qatar.

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Red Bull Formula 1 MotoGP Circuit of the Americas