Masterful win for Marquez in Texas
Marquez speeds to victory |
Taking his first win of this season today, Marc Marquez completed another perfect weekend at Circuit of the Americas, succeeding in Austin for the fifth-straight time after starting from pole position.
The Repsol Honda riders completed lap one at the front of the pack, Dani having grabbed the lead into turn one from his second-row start, with Marc following in his teammate’s slipstream for several laps before making a bid for the lead. Although Pedrosa put up a strong defence, the reigning champ took over for good on lap 9 of 21 and extended his advantage during the latter part of the race, while Dani was obliged to relinquish the runner-up position to Valentino Rossi with three laps remaining.
Maverick Vinales fell out of contention on the second lap with a low-side crash at Turn 18, ending his winning streak after his victories in Qatar and Argentina.
Amazingly, Marquez has won every Premier-class GP he has ever entered in the U.S., having also taken three MotoGP victories in Indianapolis and one in Laguna Seca; including his two Moto2 wins in the country, this is Marc’s 11th consecutive victory in the USA. That said, the last time the Repsol Honda man had stood atop the podium was when he clinched last year’s title in Suzuka, Japan, last October, so this victory marked a welcome return to the top.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Marc’s win today also adds yet another important piece to Honda’s own domination in MotoGP events hosted in the USA. In fact, the last 14 MotoGP races on American tarmac have been won by Honda riders. (The last non-Honda MotoGP winner in the country was Jorge Lorenzo, at Laguna Seca in 2010.) Honda have therefore won 17 of the 22 premier-class Grand Prix races that have taken place in the USA during the MotoGP era.
Marc Marquez
This was a crucial race because after Argentina it was important to come back in the best way, so we are really happy with this result. Although I won, it was difficult, because the temperature was much higher than yesterday. Five minutes before the start, I said to my chief mechanic, ‘Okay, let’s use the hard tyre’ because I knew that I would push the medium front tyre a lot. In the beginning I was just trying to understand the limit because I hadn’t tried it a lot on Friday. I was behind Dani and when I saw that he was struggling a little bit and Valentino was challenging, I said, ‘Time to attack.’ I was able to win, and I’m happy to be back in the championship.
Results
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
1 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 25 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 43'58.770 |
2 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 20 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 3.069 |
3 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | SPA | 16 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 5.112 |
4 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 13 | LCR Honda | Honda | 7.638 |
5 | ZARCO Johann | 5 | FRA | 11 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 7.957 |
6 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | ITA | 10 | Ducati Team | Ducati | 14.058 |
7 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 9 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | 15.491 |
8 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | ITA | 8 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 16.772 |
9 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | SPA | 7 | Ducati Team | Ducati | 17.979 |
10 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 6 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 18.494 |
11 | FOLGER Jonas | 94 | GER | 5 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 18.903 |
12 | REDDING Scott | 45 | GBR | 4 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 28.735 |
13 | RABAT Tito | 53 | SPA | 3 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 30.041 |
14 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | SPA | 2 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 31.364 |
15 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 1 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 1'06.547 |
16 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | GBR | 0 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1'22.090 |
17 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 0 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 2 laps |
18 | LOWES Sam | 22 | GBR | 0 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 10 laps |
19 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | SPA | 0 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 12 laps |
20 | BAZ Loris | 76 | FRA | 0 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 13 laps |
21 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | SPA | 0 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 20 laps |
22 | ABRAHAM Karel | 17 | CZE | 0 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 20 laps |
Rider Standings
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
1 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 56 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
2 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | SPA | 50 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
3 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 38 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
4 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | ITA | 30 | Ducati Team | Ducati |
5 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 29 | LCR Honda | Honda |
6 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | SPA | 27 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
7 | ZARCO Johann | 5 | FRA | 22 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
8 | FOLGER Jonas | 94 | GER | 21 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
9 | REDDING Scott | 45 | GBR | 21 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati |
10 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 21 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda |
11 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | ITA | 17 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati |
12 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 14 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati |
13 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | SPA | 12 | Ducati Team | Ducati |
14 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 10 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia |
15 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 9 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki |
16 | BAZ Loris | 76 | FRA | 9 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati |
17 | ABRAHAM Karel | 17 | CZE | 8 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati |
18 | RABAT Tito | 53 | SPA | 8 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda |
19 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | SPA | 8 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati |
20 | RINS Alex | 42 | SPA | 7 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki |
21 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | SPA | 2 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
22 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | GBR | 1 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
Team Standings
Pos. | Team | Points |
1 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 106 |
2 | Repsol Honda Team | 65 |
3 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 43 |
4 | Ducati Team | 42 |
5 | Octo Pramac Racing | 38 |
6 | LCR Honda | 29 |
7 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 29 |
8 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 22 |
9 | Reale Avintia Racing | 17 |
10 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | 16 |
11 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 10 |
12 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 3 |
Constructor Standings
Pos. | Team | Points |
1 | Yamaha | 70 |
2 | Honda | 54 |
3 | Ducati | 43 |
4 | Suzuki | 16 |
5 | Aprilia | 10 |
6 | KTM | 2 |