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MotoGP: Marquez wins #AmericasGP, Vinales Crashes Out, Rossi Leads Championship!

  • Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) continues his MotoGP domination at the Circuit of the Americas for the fifth time in a row

  • Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) race brilliantly to P2, putting him ahead of the championship title fight with 56 points

  • Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) landed his first podium of the season after quite a few amazing battles with Marquez and Rossi throughout the race

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda

It’s official; Marc Marquez makes it five out five victories at arguably one of his favourite tracks in the race calendar, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Texas USA. After a brilliant qualifying session and race, it’s too early to put aside the 2016 MotoGP World Champion aside just yet for the title crown of 2017.

All weekend, signs were pointing to a major head to head battle between Marc Marquez and Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales. After a great start from Pedrosa, Marquez and Rossi, Vinales settled for fourth until he slid out of contention after only a couple of laps. It was his first DNF since Argentina 2016.

“It was a really strange crash. I did exactly the same as in Warm Up and all weekend, but I crashed. I think we had some issues with the front tyre, but anyway, we know that we are strong and that we have the speed. We can be strong again, so I‘m going to try to forget this crash and come to Jerez even faster, stronger and more consistent than I was here.”

Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Valentino Rossi on the other hand scored his third podium in a row. After crossing the finish line in P2, Rossi now leads the MotoGP 2017 world championship with 56 points, six points ahead of Maverick Vinales and 18 points ahead of Marc Marquez.

It was noted that the FIM race direction penalised The Doctor with a 0.3 second penalty for the unfair advantage gained when he was trying to avoid a collision with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider and 2017 MotoGP rookie, Johann Zarco. The penalty however was not enough to change Rossi’s results as he was ahead of third place finisher Dani Pedrosa by a good five seconds.

Dani Pedrosa probably had his best performance since last year after having led the race for the first eight laps. Even towards the end of the race, the Spaniard kept his game strong with constant battles with Marquez and also Rossi. He eventually settled for a satisfactory third place finish.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda

“Overall it was a good weekend, much further up front. Some things could have been better but I’m happy overall. I got a clean start, finally, and starting from fourth I could have a clean line from the start. Leading the race for a few laps was amazing. I could have gone faster but I knew I had to take care of my tyres.” said Pedrosa after the race.

Johann Zarco (no.5) Monster Yamaha Tech Tech 3 being chased by Jorge Lorenzo (no.99) from Ducati Team and Cal Crutchlow (no.35)

Fourth place was awarded to Cal Crutchlow from LCR Honda. The Brit rider gave a stunning performance catching up with Zarco in fourth position and had a few close encounters up until the last lap. Crutchlow was awarded the top independent rider after crossing the finish line ahead of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 French rider.

Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) had a pretty uneventful but good race overall finishing in P6. Starting the race in seventh, Dovizioso took P6 after three laps and stayed there until the end of the race. His team mate, Jorge Lorenzo scored points in P9 after positive performance throughout the race up until the last three laps when Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki ECSTAR) took over P7 and Danilo Petrucci (OCTO Pramac Racing) in P8.

Jorge Lorenzo being chased by Jack Miller (no.43) from EG 0,0 Marc VDS

The top 10 is completed with Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) with over 18 seconds behind race winner, Marc Marquez.

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Time/Gap
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team 43’58.770
2 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 3.069
3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 5.112
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda 7.638
5 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 7.957
6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team 14.058
7 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 15.491
8 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA OCTO Pramac Racing 16.772
9 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team 17.979
10 43 Jack MILLER AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS 18.494
11 94 Jonas FOLGER GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 18.903
12 45 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Racing 28.735
13 53 Tito RABAT SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS 30.041
14 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Reale Avintia Racing 31.364
15 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team +1’06.547
16 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1’22.090
17 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2 Laps
Not Classified
22 Sam LOWES GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 10 Laps
44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 12 Laps
76 Loris BAZ FRA Reale Avintia Racing 13 Laps
25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 20 Laps
17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team 20 Laps

The next round will head over to Circuito of Jerez, Spain for the Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana on 7 May 2017.

Photo source: MotoGP

A passionate individual when it comes to anything related to two wheels (or sometimes more), he enjoys the chaotic and magical world of motorsports as much as riding leisurely to the shops on his beloved Vespa. With an education-based background, he is always eager to learn and share about the poetic arts of motorcycling.

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