Starting grid for the 2026 US MotoGP race after penalties

Fabio di Giannantonio will hope for better luck from pole position in Sunday’s 2026 US MotoGP race at COTA.

After taking his second pole position in a week, the VR46 Ducati rider was taken out by Marc Marquez on the opening lap of a dramatic Sprint.

Meanwhile, di Giannantonio won’t have Marco Bezzecchi alongside him on the front row after the Aprilia rider joined Luca Marini in receiving a two-place GP grid penalty for holding up Marc Marquez in qualifying.

Bezzecchi's demotion moves Pedro Acosta up to second on the grid and puts Francesco Bagnaia on the outside of the front row.

Bagnaia was denied a Sprint victory when he was hunted down and then passed by Jorge Martin on the very final lap of Saturday’s race.

Acosta was later stripped of third due to a post-race tyre pressure penalty.

Bezzecchi, who has lost the world championship lead to Martin after a late fall, will start his quest for a fifth grand prix victory in a row from the head of row two.

The Italian also needs to lead the first two laps to tie Jorge Lorenzo’s 2015 record of 103 consecutive laps in the MotoGP lead.

Marc Marquez will have a long lap penalty to serve in the grand prix for taking down Fabio di Giannantonio on the opening lap of the Sprint.

The MotoGP field has been reduced to 21 riders after Tech3’s Maverick Vinales withdrew from the event after FP1 due to pain in his left shoulder, caused by a loose screw from last year’s operation.

The 19-lap Grand Prix starts at 3pm local time.

2026 COTA MotoGP race: Full starting grid after penalties

Row 1: Fabio di Giannantonio (pole), Pedro Acosta, Francesco Bagnaia

Row 2: Marco Bezzecchi*, Joan Mir, Marc Marquez

Row 3:  Jorge Martin, Alex Marquez, Fermin Aldeguer

Row 4: Ai Ogura, Luca Marini*, Enea Bastianini

Row 5: Raul Fernandez, Diogo Moreira, Johann Zarco

Row 6: Fabio Quartararo, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Brad Binder

Row 7: Jack Miller, Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins

* Two-place grid penalty.