Marc Marquez Reigns in Austin

Repsol Honda rider and defending champion Marc Marquez has an impeccable record at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas. The Spaniard has notched up his 6th win on American soil out of six races held at the venue. He qualified on pole but was demoted to 4th for blocking Maverick Vinales.

The front row was Vinales, Andrea Iannone and Johann Zarco with Marquez, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo on row 2. The demotion did little to hinder Marquez as he and Iannone got off to good starts with the latter in the lead. Eventually, Marquez’ superior Honda passed Iannone’s Suzuki for the lead. The Italian was not going to let him get away that easily though, and stuck to his coattails. But Marquez managed to shake him off and he fell into the clutches of the Yamaha pair of Vinales and Rossi.

Vinales managed to pass Iannone despite some resistance but the latter was safe from Rossi. It was mostly status quo for the rest of the race apart from a few fallers including championship leader Cal Crutchlow. Marc Marquez won the race a country mile ahead of Vinales and Iannone.

Meanwhile, in Moto2, Team Sky VR46 rider and VR46 Academy graduate Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia held off Alex Marquez (Marc’s brother) to win in Texas. Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira took the final podium spot. Behind them were the delighted pair of Joan Mir and Iker Lecuona in 4th and 5th respectively. This was their career best finishes in the Moto2 category.

German rider Marcel Schrotter had a scary accident after exiting Turn 1 and possibly sustained an injury. He was not the only casualty as a few other riders either fell off or were taken out at the start.

Finally, in the Moto3, Jorge Martin cemented his status as the pre-season favourite by taking a lights to flag victory. He staved off some resistance from Italian riders Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi. For a while, a whole gaggle of riders swapped the lead several times while Martin bided his time. With half a mind focused on tactics, he dealt his hand and rocketed away with Bastianini and the freight train of riders in hot pursuit. In the end, Martin took a comfortable victory ahead of the Italian duo.