Some arduous treks from Argentina to Austin and the Circuit of the Americas for MotoGP were rewarded with some routine sights at the spectacular new racetrack in the depths of Texas as well as one or two strange occurrences in what continues to be a surprising and eye-opening Grand Prix campaign so far. COTA played host to round three of the series and yet another masterclass by Marc Marquez at the venue where the Catalan rolled to his fourth Pole Position-victory set in a row and for a 100% sweep of the event since MotoGP rolled into town. Six seconds adrift but partly relieved to be back on the podium was Qatar winner/Argentina crashee Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo as the Spaniard also learned that teammate Valentino Rossi crashed out of a race for the first time since 2012 (oddly also on American soil, at Laguna Seca).
’99’, who had hit the asphalt in the morning warm-up, was given some assistance early in the race as Dani Pedrosa made a mistake and barrelled into the utterly luckless Andrea Dovizioso – the Italian Ducati rider punted out of a second grand prix in a row through no fault of his own. Lorenzo kept ahead of Andrea Iannone but the leading group was vastly reduced.
“It was really important to finish the race and get twenty points after crashing at high speed in the morning, it was really difficult mentally to focus,” the World Champion said after notching his (fittingly) 99th MotoGP podium. “It was a difficult beginning, the track was slippery and with the hard rear tyre and the full tank it was difficult to stop especially on braking. I made some mistakes I don`t normally do in the first lap. I couldn`t keep the pace of Marc, he was making the difference this weekend and in the race. I was fast enough to stay in second place and finish. You could see it was difficult to stay on the bike with a lot of crashes. Argentina and Australia are always complicated for us and Yamaha.”
Rossi’s slip through losing traction on the front end of the M1 only on lap three was surprising. “I entered turn two, I didn’t feel from the bike I was too fast but looking at the result maybe I was… It`s a shame because we lost some points in the championship and also because we could make a good race. The positive side is that we are strong and very fast,” ’46’ said.
Disaster on lap eight for Monster Energy duo Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith with both British riders falling on the same corner and within seconds of each other. Despite a hot sprint back to their respective machines both ’35’ and ’38’ were effectively banished to the back of the field. Smith’s teammate, Pol Espargaro, fought his way to seventh.
Moto2 saw a ‘Marquez-esque’ performance by Paginas Amarillas HP 40’s Alex Rins as the former Moto3 race winner led from Pole to flag ahead of Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Sam Lowes for his third victory in the class in just his second season and with MotoGP bosses sniffing around the Catalan’s services for the immediate future. World Champ Johann Zarco completed the top three.
Moto3 belonged to Sky Racing Team VR46’s Romano Fenati for the first time this season; the Italian was peerless on his run with the KTM and was comfortably ahead of Estrella Galicia 0,0’s and Monster Energy’s Jorge Navarro in second place. The Spaniard is also nestling in second spot in the championship standings with three of eighteen races in the bag.
Qatar, Argentina and the U.S. have given MotoGP plenty of mileage in the opening throes of the ’16 series and the championship now heads into a European stint with the Gran Premio de España around the flat curves of Jerez ready to stage round four in two weeks time.
Credit: Monster