MotoGP: More From Saturday At The Red Bull Grand Prix Of The Americas

A test rider’s job is to push the bike to the limit and find out what’s working and what’s not. That process usually takes place in private, but with Pramac Racing’s Miguel Oliveira sidelined with an injury, factory Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez was pressed into service. It had been a hectic few weeks for Fernandez, who was slotted into the factory Yamaha Superbike World Championship team after Jonathan Rea suffered a brutal foot injury and was out of action. Then, after testing the YZF-R1 Superbike in Portugal, Oliveira was injured and Fernandez was pulled from the Superbike team and slotted into the Pramac MotoGP team. Fernandez pushed hard enough for his YZR-M1 to throw him out of the saddle on Saturday morning. In a media appearance later, Fernandez said he was still adapting from the KTM, which could take a lot of throttle early in corner exit, to the Yamaha, which responded better to pushing the front more.

Marc Marquez was quickest in the cold morning sessions, but by the time the MotoGP Sprint race started, the temperature had soared, grip levels dropped, and the eight-time World Champion nearly threw his Desmosedici to the ground on the first lap.

Alex Marquez finished second in the sprint, his fifth second-place finish in five starts in 2025, and is leading the Independent Rider standings by a full Grand Prix race win’s worth of points over Franco Morbidelli. With Ducati parking its Desmosedici GP25, Alex, on the year-old but Championship-winning Desmosedici GP24, is finally on truly front-running machinery in MotoGP. Racing his entire career in the shadow of brother Marc, Alex is taking the opportunity to demonstrate exactly how talented he actually is.

Jake Dixon, on a roll from his Moto2 win in Argentina, has led every session at Circuit of The Americas, in the cold and wet and in the dry and hot, and took pole for the first time in 2025.

David Munoz was fast but crashed in Thailand and retired in Argentina, but showed that his speed at both events was no fluke by taking pole in Austin. Munoz led a KTM 1-2-3-4-5, with Luca Lunetta the fastest Honda.

The Kramer APX-350 MA racebike used in the MotoAmerica Talent Cup is designed to “provide Grand Prix performance for a fraction of the cost,” according to the company’s website. In its first race outing, Ella Dreher was clocked at 124.4 miles an hour in Race Two at Circuit of The Americas. That compares to an average top speed of about 142 mph of the Moto3 front running competitors on Saturday at COTA. The lap time for pole for the Moto3 class was a 2:14.422, while pole for the Talent Cup was a 2:29.199.

The Kramer costs $22,485. A Moto3 machine’s cost is capped by the regulations at approximately $194,700, which includes a single chassis (approximately $108,000) and a six-engine package at approximately $86,000 that includes two throttle bodies and three transmissions for a two-rider team. Individual engines can be purchased for $12,000 each, throttle body and transmission included.

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