Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez capped off a perfect weekend at Circuit of The Americas by winning his second successive Americas Grand Prix ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa.
The race started in dramatic fashion after Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo jumped the start and as a result had to relinquish his race lead and enter the pits to serve a ride-through penalty. This gifted the race lead to Marquez who was able to consistently lap in the 2’03 time bracket to quickly build a gap over the rest of the field. At the chequered flag Marquez crossed the finish line 4.124 seconds of Pedrosa in second place, while Andrea Dovizioso finished in an impressive third place to score his first podium with Ducati.
Intermittent rain fell earlier in the day but track conditions were dry for the race, although track temperatures were considerably lower than yesterday. The peak track temperature during the race was 33°C, ten degrees cooler than yesterday afternoon. The medium compound rear slick was the preferred race option, with sixteen of the twenty-three riders on the grid selecting this option, while six Open-class riders selected the soft compound rear slick. In similar fashion to the season-opener in Qatar, only race winner Marquez selected the hard compound rear slick. All riders selected the medium compound front slick for the race. The improved track conditions compared to last year resulted in quicker race pace this year, with Marquez setting a new Circuit Record Lap time of 2’03.575 on lap three, while the overall race time was nine seconds quicker than last year.
Marquez’s two wins from two races sees him lead the championship standings over teammate Pedrosa by fourteen points, while Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi is a further eight points behind and third overall in the championship points table.
Hiroshi Yamada – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Division
“Congratulations to Marc for another victory at Circuit of the Americas and to Repsol Honda for achieving another double podium at this venue. It was also pleasing to see Ducati return to the podium, so well done to Andrea and the team for their fantastic result today. I was sorry to see Cal crash and injure himself during the race and I want to wish him a full and speedy recovery. I hope that the exciting start to the season continues when we visit the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo in a couple of weeks’ time, and I look forward to returning to the United States for the Indianapolis Grand Prix in August.”
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Division
“Conditions were much cooler today for the race but track conditions were good, which resulted in the race being run at a very quick pace. Only Marquez selected the harder rear slick for the race and it worked well for him, and all three rear slick options were utilised in the race. As expected the whole of the grid selected the medium compound option, yet during the race some riders experienced higher levels of front tyre abrasion than was seen during practice and qualifying. We will now analyse the tyres to work out what were the contributing factors that resulted in the high levels of wear that occurred during the race.”
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda – Race Winner
“I’m really happy with this victory, it was a different kind of race for me as I’ve never led a MotoGP race from start to finish, so it was a bit strange and it was hard to keep my concentration. It was great to get the twenty-five points today, but I know the next races will be more challenging as this is one of my favourite circuits and today was one of my easier victories.”
Americas MotoGP™ Top Ten Race Classification
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Team
|
Race Time
|
Gap
|
Front spec
|
Rear spec
|
Tyres
|
|
1
|
Marc MARQUEZ
|
Repsol Honda Team
|
43’33.430
|
Medium
|
Hard
|
Bridgestone
|
|
|
2
|
Dani PEDROSA
|
Repsol Honda Team
|
43’37.554
|
4.124
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
3
|
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
|
Ducati Team
|
43’54.406
|
20.976
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
4
|
Stefan BRADL
|
LCR Honda MotoGP
|
43’56.220
|
22.790
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
5
|
Bradley SMITH
|
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
|
43’56.393
|
22.963
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
6
|
Pol ESPARGARO
|
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
|
43’59.997
|
26.567
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
7
|
Andrea IANNONE
|
Pramac Racing
|
44’01.687
|
28.257
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
8
|
Valentino ROSSI
|
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
|
44’18.949
|
45.519
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
9
|
Aleix ESPARGARO
|
NGM Forward Racing
|
44’21.035
|
47.605
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
|
10
|
Jorge LORENZO
|
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
|
44’22.541
|
49.111
|
Medium
|
Medium
|
Bridgestone
|
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