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.
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. “This allowed Bezzecchi to take tighter lines and get through the twists and turns faster.
Luthi suggested Ducati may have underestimated how far behind they’ve fallen during recent development cycles, especially since attention shifted early towards building for next season.
He added: “Perhaps Marc was able to conceal or override a lot. He still achieved so much success towards the end of last year. Of course, development towards 2027 started earlier with all the rule changes, but 2026 is still an important year for Ducati.
“They certainly wanted to be at the forefront. Ideally, not just with one rider, but with all of them. And they’re simply not managing that at the moment.
“I think Marc Marquez was able to get away with it for a long time, but even he couldn’t do that in Austin. Now, the alarm bells have definitely been ringing in the Ducati ranks.”
Marquez did post a top-five finish despite serving a long lap penalty after contact with Fabio Di Giannantonio in Saturday’s Sprint Race. He worked back from P11 into P5 by race end but still trailed winner Marco Bezzecchi by over eight seconds.
Di Giannantonio was also strong in qualifying aboard his VR46-run Ducati GP26 – taking pole ahead of Bezzecchi – while factory rider Francesco Bagnaia started fourth after nearly winning Saturday’s Sprint until Martin overtook him on lap nine.
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