MARQUEZ CONQUERS COTA AGAIN

Marc Marquez has once again conquered the Circuit of the Americas, taking his seventh MotoGP win in eight races at the venue.

Showcasing the dominant form that made him a six-time champion prior to his injury, the Honda rider stamped his authority on the race from the start, charging off the front row into the lead by the first corner and never really looked back from that point.

Behind Marquez, the battle for this year’s title saw the two key combatants round out the podium.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo wasn’t able to match the pace of Marquez at the start but slotted into second place at the first corner where he would remain for the duration of the race to extend his points lead in the championship.

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia had to work a lot harder for third place despite starting from pole position after a terrible start.

Bagnaia dropped as low as sixth before fighting his way back up the order with some assistance of fellow Ducati riders to remain in contention in the championship.

Jack Miller, on the second factory Ducati, played the team game handing over fourth place to Bagnaia with eight laps left in the race.

A mistake from rookie Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) in the closing stages ensured that Bagnaia would secure the final spot on the podium.

Suzuki’s Alex Rins crossed the line fourth after Martin took his long lap penalty for shortcutting the circuit while trying to recover his bike from a moment through Turn 4 and Turn 5. The Pramac would claim fifth.

Rookie Enea Bastianini (Avintia Ducati) jumped up to sixth on the final lap after Suzuki’s Joan Mir attempted an ambitious move of Miller at Turn 15.

Mir made contact with the Australian and while both riders remained upright, they dropped down the order to 7th and 8th respectively.

Miller was visibly fuming after the incident exchanging words with Mir on the cooldown lap. The incident is now under investigation.

Brad Binder was the best of the KTM riders in 9th ahead of Honda’s Pol Espargaro who rounded out the top ten.

A number of riders were caught out by the bumps during the race, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) crashed out on Lap 2 while in sixth. Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) also crashed out on Lap 5. While Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro also failed to make the finish.

Quartararo’s second place moves him 53 points ahead of Bagnaia with just three rounds remaining.

MotoGP will return to Misano in two weeks for the next round of the championship.

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