Source : @F1
AUSTIN — Franco Colapinto swapped four wheels for two on his arrival at the United States Grand Prix, making his entrance to the Circuit of The Americas paddock on a Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP bike.
Formula 1’s official X account posted the 17-second video on Thursday (Oct 22) with the caption: “Franco certainly knows how to make an entrance!”, alongside a motorcycle emoji and the hashtags #F1 and #USGP. The clip, captioned on screen “Franco bringing the noise!”, shows the Alpine driver in a blue team shirt and his helmet astride the purple-liveried bike, which carries Prima, Motul and Yamaha branding. Team members walk alongside as the bike rolls past the team hospitality units, watched by a crowd of onlookers filming on their phones.
According to reports in Argentina and Spain, the bike was the Yamaha YZR-M1 used by the Prima Pramac satellite team, and it was in neutral, with Colapinto revving the engine while he was pushed along. Infobae reported that he told ESPN it had been an incredible experience, explaining that he had followed MotoGP since childhood but that his father, a former speedway rider, had banned him from two wheels. Colapinto added that he had wanted to put it in first gear but was not allowed to.
The stunt was no coincidence. Alpine has been the main partner of the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP team since the 2025 season, and Pramac’s riders, Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu, visited Alpine’s Formula 1 factory at Enstone in August, Infobae reported. Alpine also shared its own footage of the moment on social media.
It is also a preview of a landmark weekend for the two championships. MotoGP will stage a high-speed demonstration at the circuit on Saturday from 11.40am to noon local time, before third practice, the first time it has been included in a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend, according to MotoGP. Andrea Dovizioso will ride the Yamaha, alongside Dani Pedrosa on a KTM, Nicolo Bulega on a Ducati and Lorenzo Savadori for the Trackhouse team. MotoGP says the machines can exceed 225mph and produce more than 130 decibels of noise.
On track, Colapinto has a tougher task. The 23-year-old Argentinian is 12th in the drivers’ standings on 27 points, after retiring from the Singapore Grand Prix on Oct 11, while Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly is 10th on 41 points.
At the front, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leads the championship on 340 points, 102 clear of team-mate George Russell, and can clinch the title in Austin if he wins the race, with Russell ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton fifth or lower. MotoGP itself returns to the Circuit of The Americas for its own Grand Prix of the United States from April 23 to 25, 2027.
The United States Grand Prix runs from Oct 23 to 25, with qualifying at 4pm local time on Saturday and the 56-lap race starting at 3pm on Sunday, which is 4am on Monday (Oct 26) in Malaysia. The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2113308466299425030.
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