MotoGP fans were denied the Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales showdown they were all waiting for at Austin when the Movistar Yamaha man slid out of fourth place on the second lap of today’s race which saw Marquez take his fifth straight win at Circuit of the Americas.
Vinales and Marquez have been desperately close on paper all weekend but it was all for nowt as Vinales ran a little wide at turn 18 and slide off his factory M1, leaving the Repsol Honda man to duke it out with team-mate Dani Pedrosa and nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi.
Pedrosa had got the holeshot from his second-row grid slot and led Marquez and Rossi until the two HRC man began to trade paint on laps eight, nine and then 12 when Marquez made a pass stick at turn 12, then promptly cleared off, setting two fastest laps in a row to open a four-second lead.
Pedrosa and Rossi were left to fight it out for the podium spots but Rossi was handed a 0.3s penalty for an incident with Johann Zarco at turn four. Zarco ran up the inside of The Doctor, contact was made and The Doctor ran off the track. He re-joined with an advantage over Zarco which was deemed illegal by race direction.
Rossi pushed past Pedrosa at turn 20 with two full laps left to run, so he had to finish with more than a three-tenth advantage over the Spaniard in order to confirm second place. However, Rossi had plenty in hand and he had stretched his advantage to 1.7s when they started the penultimate lap - which he increased to 2.43s at the chequered flag. His 20 points mean he now leads the world championship.
Zarco, meanwhile, faded back into the clutches of Britain’s Cal Crutchlow and the LCR Honda man went past the reigning Moto2 World Champion with two laps left to run, securing fourth place.
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso had a lonely ride for sixth place while Andrea Iannone turned round a disastrous weekend to finish in seventh, one ahead of Danilo Petrucci. Jorge Lorenzo scythed his way backwards from sixth place to ninth over the 20 laps but held off the attentions of Jack Miller in tenth. Jonas Folger finished in 11th with Scott Redding in 12th.
It was disaster for the works Aprilia team as a wrecked front tyre brought Aleix Espargaro into the pits just one lap before Sam Lowes crashed out. at turn 13 with ten laps left. Loris Baz also fell, as did both Pull and Bear Ducatis but Alvaro Bautista re-mounted for a point.
Rossi now leads Vinales by six points at the top of the championship table. Marquez’ 25 points today see him leap into third and he now trails The Doctor by 18 points. Dovizioso is in fourth on 30 points with Crutchlow in fifth, one point further back. Lorenzo has clawed hsis way up to 13th place and now has 12 points to his name from a possible 75.
Crutchlow leads the independent championship with 29 points, seven ahead of Zarco but it is a three-way tie between Folger, Miller and Redding for third spot, all on 21. Zarco is rookie of the year so far but Folger is only one point behind.
