It was nothing short of a fairy tale comeback for the former Suzuki man as Alex Rins took the chequered flag at the Grand Prix of the Americas. What makes this win even more special is that in a sea of Ducatis, KTMs and Aprilias, the Spaniard was the only Honda rider to score points. It was another strong outing for Mooney VR46 Racing team as Luca Marini took second place while 2021 world champion Fabio Quatararo sealed the third spot.
Another slip, slide and retirement for Pecco
After winning the Saturday Sprint race and starting from pole position, Francesco Bagnaia looked all set to win his second grand prix of the year, but nothing is ever what it seems in MotoGP. Since the lights went out, Pecco Bagnaia, managed to hold on to his slender lead with Rins shadowing him. With a lead of 0.4 seconds, the defending champion was forced to make a mistake on lap 8 and lost control of his Ducati and gift wrapping a win to Rins.
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Chaotic first-lap incidents
As always, there was not a single dull moment in the race. From lap one, it was a clash of the Ducati satellite teams. Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin took out Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez on Turn 3. Martin apologized for his mistake as he took a sharp lean angle on the dirty side of the track. The accident could have been a major incident as Marquez’s leg got stuck between the two motorcycles. Thankfully, he walked away without any serious injuries.
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It was a GP to forget for Aleix Espargaro from Aprilia as he too couldn’t finish a single lap. The Spaniard later criticized the track for his crash. The Aprilia rider said the track is very bumpy and increases the chances of an accident.
Battle for P2
Starting from tenth place, KTM’s Jack Miller blazed past other riders to take 3rd place. Sadly, the Australian couldn’t hold on to it as he soon crashed out. With Quatararo in second place, Marini decided to shake up things as he rode fast and hard and overtook the Yamaha rider. Quatararo had no answer to the VR46 Ducati’s pace and had to concede P2 to Marini. The Italian tried his level best to get the better of Rins and secure his first win in MotoGP, but the Spaniard held over three seconds lead and comfortably won the grand prix.
After Espargaro’s shock first-lap exit, his teammate, Maverick Vinales finished fourth followed by Miguel Oliveira and Argentina GP winner Marco Bezzecchi. This time there was no late charge from the flying Frenchman, Johann Zarco, who finished seventh, while Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Augusto Fernandez completed the top ten respectively.
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