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Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez led from turn one to the flag as he dominated the American Grand Prix. The Spaniard finished ahead of Fabio Quartararo in second and pole-sitter Francesco Bagnaia in third.
Quartararo’s strong second-place finish puts him within touching distance of the 2021 MotoGP title, as his gap at the top extended to 52 points.
MotoGP returned to the Circuit of the Americas for the first time since 2019 for round 15 of the 2021 season. The track, which weaves through the undulating Texan soil, has thrown up some brilliant battles over the years.
Starting Grid
On pole position was Francesco Bagnaia, who set a 2:02.781 in Saturday’s Q2 session, despite the bumpy track surface which made riding difficult for the whole field. His third consecutive pole position saw him become the first Italian to score a hat-trick of pole positions since Valentino Rossi in 2009.
The Ducati man lined up ahead of his championship rival Fabio Quartararo, and Marc Marquez in third, the Spaniard’s best qualifying result since his return to racing earlier this year.
On row two, LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami was sandwiched by Pramac duo Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco who started fourth and sixth respectively.
The winner of the last race at the Circuit of the Americas, Alex Rins fronted row three alongside his Suzuki teammate Joan Mir and Luca Marini in ninth.
Aussie Jack Miller qualified 10th and was joined on row four by KTM’s Brad Binder and Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro. On row five, Franco Morbidelli started 13th ahead of his compatriot Andrea Dovizioso, and Spaniard Alex Marquez in 15th.
After a maidan podium finish last time out, Enea Bastianini lined up 16th alongside Iker Lecuona in 17th and Miguel Oliviera in 18th.
On the seventh and final row of the grid, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro started 19th ahead of Italian duo Valentino Rossi who started his final American Grand Prix in 20th and Danilo Petrucci in 21st.
Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales withdrew from the race weekend on bereavement grounds following the tragic passing of his cousin Dean Berta Vinales last weekend.
As It Happened
Off the line, third-placed Marquez got the best start and led into turn one. Pole-sitter Bagnaia dropped down to fourth by the end of the first sector after Rins moved into third.
Everyone circulated to the end of the first lap, with Marc Marquez in the lead, ahead of Quartararo, Rins, Bagnaia and Martin making up the top five.
After Bagnaia lost a position to Martin on lap two, Nakagami was the next rider to pile pressure onto the Italian into turn 11. The Japanese rider claimed fifth momentarily before Bagnaia blasted back past. A corner later, the LCR man ran deep and lost the front as he tried to set up a move on the Italian as he came back onto the track plum last.
At the same corner a lap later, Miller wasted no time as he made a bold two-in-one move on Mir and Binder promoting himself into sixth place.
Martin was next in line to challenge for the podium as he used his Ducati’s horsepower to breeze past Rins over the line. However, the Suzuki man got the elbows out and defended third place into turn one on lap four.
At turn one on lap five, Zarco crashed out of the race after losing grip whilst running ninth. His Pramac teammate’s fortunes were somewhat better as he moved ahead of Rins and into third place.
A lap later, Martin had a look at Quartararo in second into turn one but backed out of the move. Further back, Miller slotted his Ducati up the inside of his teammate Bagnaia and leapfrogging the Italian into fifth.
The aforementioned Aussie, now on a roll, passed Rins up the inside at turn 12. The hairpin was clearly an overtaking hotspot for Miller as he made a few passes throughout the early laps of the race.
Aleix Espargaro became the latest rider to retire from the race after he crashed at turn 13 on lap nine.
The Ducati’s potent power down the long back straight proved pivotal, as Bagnaia blitzed past Rins back into fifth place.
At the halfway point of the race, leader Marquez was building a healthy lead over Quartararo, with the Repsol man withstanding the bumpy track surface and using it to his advantage.
On lap 13, Bagnaia had caught fourth-placed Miller after stringing together some impressive laps. The Aussie, aware of his teammate’s title fight, sat up and allowed the Italian to move into fourth as he set his sight on third-placed Martin.
Miller fell another position at turn 11 two laps later as Rins made the move for fifth. Miller was determined to fight back and reclaimed the position down the back straight, but Rins managed to sneak back past and make the move stick at turn 15.
As Martin started to come under pressure from Bagnaia, on lap 17, he ran off at turn four which resulted in a long lap penalty for the Pramac rider.
A lap later, Bagnaia made the move on Martin at turn 12 as he moved into the podium places.
On the final lap of the race, Mir and Miller jostled for sixth place. As the duo made contact at turn 15, Bastianini slipped up the inside of the duo to clinch sixth place.
In the end, it was Marc Marquez who reclaimed the COTA crown and secured his second race victory of the season with Quartararo and Bagnaia rounding out the podium.
Rins, Martin, Bastianini, Mir, Miller, Binder and Pol Espargaro rounded out the top 10 finishers.
In the riders’ championship, Quartararo extends the gap by four points to 52 over Bagnaia with 75 points up for grabs. The Italian must outscore his championship rival during the next race, but if he fails to do so, Quartararo will claim his maidan MotoGP title.
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