While everyone was transfixed by Marc Marquez’s early departure and the subsequent battle between Valentino Rossi and Alex Rins, Franco Morbidelli rode to fifth in the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas over the weekend. It the first Top 5 finish for him and the new PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team.
Morbidelli fought hard against a resurgent Andrea Dovizioso of Mission Winnow Ducati but had to give way at the end. Dovizioso had qualified 13thon the grid and fought his way up the field to eventually finish fourth. However, Morbidelli managed to defend his fifth position from Dovizioso’s team Danilo Petrucci.
It was Morbidelli’s best MotoGP result to date since joining the premier class last year.
“I’m very, very happy about this fifth position. We were starting a bit too far, because yesterday we had not a great qualifying. But I was confident that I could be fast in the race today” said the Italian.
His team was also very happy when MotoGP rookie Fabio Quartararo finished in seventh place, one behind Petrucci.
It was excellent results for the Malaysia-based team which didn’t exist a mere six months before the start of the 2019 season.
However, Morbidelli kept his pragmatic approach, saying that the team has to keep improving. “We need to work, we need to improve to get those 8 seconds here. Couple of seconds in Argentina. So we are missing something to get on the podium.”
Marc Marquez had hoped for a perfect record at the Grand Prix of the Americas, but a mistake at Turn 12 destroyed that record, leaving Alex Rins to win.
He had done what he does best by taking the holeshot at the start and took off into the distance, followed by Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Jack Miller (Lamborghini Pramac Ducati) and Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar).
Crutchlow would crash out with 15 laps to go, leaving the other three riders to battle for the remaining podium spots.
By 12 laps to go, Marquez led by 3.6 seconds and the race looked like it was going to be another boring procession. Suddenly a roar went up in the crowds and the TV screens showed a Repsol rider picking his bike off the ground. It turned out to be Marquez!
He tried time and again to pick his bike up but fell back down on the ground and finally gave up.
Replays showed that he had locked the front wheel while trail braking into the first gear Turn 12.
It was a bad day for the Repsol Honda team as Jorge Lorenzo’s bike broke down a lap later.
Marquez’s crash left a nail-biting battle between Valentino Rossi and Alex Rins. Rins had dispatched of Jack Miller. With 6 laps to go, Rins’s team sent a message to select “Mapping 3” and started to stalk Rossi closely.
Rins finally made a move with 4 laps to go. Rossi replied with a repass by couldn’t hold his line and that let Rins off the hook.
Rossi’s tyre’s were cooked by now but he didn’t let it go down without a fight. Rins was able to open up a lead of 0.7 second but Rossi managed to pull back 0.25 second in braking down to Turn 12. However, Rins was able to hold on and claim his very first MotoGP win.
Behind them, Jack Miller held on for his first podium in the dry and on a Ducati while keeping himself just out of reach of Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati). Dovizioso started the race from 13th on the grid.
Franco Morbidelli rounded out the Top 5.
The results of the race bring Dovizioso into the lead of the championship with 54 points, to Rossi’s 51, Rins’s 49 and Marquez’s 45. That’s 9 points covering four riders.
It was a day of redemption for Thomas Luthi as he won the Moto2 race at the Grand Prix of the Americas.
The Swiss rider gave up on riding in MotoGP after lackluster results and returned to the Moto2 with the Dynavolt Intact GP team.
It was his teammate Marcel Schrotter who took the holeshot at the start, followed by Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). However, Marquez was able to force his way through a few corners later.
But instead of managing to break away, he was hunted down Luthi who had overtaken Schrotter. Soon, the pair started trading places with Marquez. The latter even resorted to putting up some hard passes but Luthi preservered and made his move stick. Luthi didn’t book back from that point on and rode to his win.
Marquez began falling into the grasps of Schrotter. When the latter moved to overtake, Marquez responded with hard passes including bumping into Schrotter. But Marquez couldn’t defend anymore and Schrotter passed him to claim second.
Marquez kept fading and was eventually passed by Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) who had Mattia Pasini (Flexbox HP 40) in tow.
Championship leader Jorge Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) crashed out after hitting the rear tyre of Jorge Martin’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo) out-of-control bike.
Spanish rider Aaron Canet won the Moto3 race at the Grand Prix of the Americas after a frantic final lap.
The race began with a high-speed train of riders but Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) took the lead and soon opened up a large gap. Eventual winner Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) kept up the pursuit and cleared himself from the pursing group.
But with eight laps to go, riders started to crash including the returning Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers). He was caught out by the notorious bumps in Turn 18. Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) had nowhere to go and collected Fenati’s bike, sending him off the track as well.
Turn 18 also claimed another victim in the form of championship leader Kaito Toba.
Up front, Suzuki seemed to have made a mistake with six laps to go, allowing the Canet to catch up, while the pursing group caught Canet in turn.
The pressure seemed to catch up with Suzuki. With just less than five laps to go, the Japanese rider entered a corner too fast and lost the rear end of his bike and crashed.
His misfortune set the pack free to battle among themselves. Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) overtook Canet into second while Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) slotted into third, followed by Jaume Masia (Migno’s teammate).
A frantic battle ensued among the four, which included contact between Masia and Rodrigo which sent the latter backwards.
Canet planned his attack to perfection and overtook Migno with two laps to go. He would escape the fracas behind when Masia, Migno and Rodrigo started chopping among themselves.
In the end, Canet cross the line first, followed by Masia, Migno and Rodrigo. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) completed the Top 5.
The results mean Jaume Masia and Aaron Canet leads the championship with 45 points each, while Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Niccolo Antonelli both hold second and third with 32 points each. Kaito Toba falls to fifth with 31 points.
Despite receiving a three-place grid penalty which saw Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez starting the race from the fourth position, the defending champion and the Circuit of the Americas records holder showed everyone why he’s still the man to beat this year. (more…)
It was a qualifying session filled with drama at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas yesterday as they battle it out for race position on Sunday. The MotoGP qualifying session saw Repsol Honda rider and defending champion setting the fastest lap of the day even after a rough tumble at Turn 13. (more…)
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