A circus of crashes and mistakes by the best riders in the world! Rins regains control of the US MotoGP VC in Austin after four years

The US MotoGP Grand Prix, the most prestigious category of the World Championship of road motorcycles, has turned into a race for survival. Only 13 riders out of 22 starters made it to the finish line after a multitude of rider errors across the field. After a second consecutive crash for reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia, LCR Honda’s Álex Rins took the win. He was joined on the podium by Luca Marini and Fabio Quartararo, who can also thank the mistakes of the riders around them.

The MotoGP series continued its journey around the world in Austin, Texas, where the third round of this year’s World Championship took place. After two races, Marco Bezzecchi led the riders’ championship ahead of last year’s champion Francesco Bagnaia, who dominated Saturday’s short race.

An ideal start for the reigning champion

The Italian retained his position as grand prix leader after starting from pole position. Like on Saturday, Rins was not about to give up and started planning his revenge on Bagnaiu.

Ducati riders Álex Márquez and Jorge Martín both crashed in the esses modeled on the Maggots and Becketts section at Silverstone, UK. The latter failed to make the entrance to this section and took poor Márquez with him after crashing to the tarmac.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Rins attempted a braking manoeuvre at Bagnaia into Turn 11. However, Bagnaiu was unperturbed and went on to take the top spot towards his second double win of the season.

Lower down the field, Quartararo was able to move up to 4th place after another good start. At the end of the first lap, the leading trio was made up of Bagnaia – Rins – Miller. The Australian driver shot up to third from the tenth slot at the start.

The riders started to drop like pears

Aleix Espargaró misjudged his machine going into Turn 12 and crashed, continuing his less than ideal start to the new season with Aprilia. From the third lap onwards, Rins was caught close behind Bagnaiu, but could not make anything of the Italian.

However, last season’s champion helped him into the lead when he crashed on the run through Turn 2. Bagnaia thus threw away a very promising result for the second time in a row. A lap earlier, Jack Miller had fallen from third position on the ktm and Raúl Fernández finished his race in the pits.

But the crash festival was far from over. 9. lady Luck chose Joan Mir, who joined the ever-lengthening line of dropouts with his accident. The almost non-existent on-track action was peppered lightly by Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder as both humbled Johann Zarco on the same circuit.

Binder, however, emulated his erring rivals when he first let Zarco get ahead of him in Turn 12 with an unforced error. He added a crash three corners later, which reduced the field to 15 drivers. Even the substitutes and the test drivers at the very end could have had a shot at championship points after this, had they finished the race.

The third winner of the opening three races

Takaaki Nakagami’s crash on lap 12 thinned the field even further. Luca Marini got ahead of Quartara on the next circuit, to whom second position was a gift, especially given Yamaha’s form. Rins, meanwhile, controlled the race and didn’t let his lead on the second-placed rider drop below two seconds.

Finally, Stefan Bradl, the replacement for the injured Marc Márquez, completed the list of retirements when he fell two laps before the chequered flag. Although Rins rode well above expectations all weekend, no one expected a win for him and the satellite Honda. The Spaniard crossed the line first with more than a three-second margin on Marini. Quartararo took bronze despite suffering a crash in the sprint.

Rins became the third different winner from the first three Grands Prix after his triumph in Austin. If sprints are included, he is the fourth different rider to finish on the top step of the podium. In addition to Rins and Bagnaia, who dominated both races in Portimao and the one in Austin on Saturday, it’s Binder, who dominated the sprint in Argentina, and Bezzecchi in the main race there.

United States MotoGP Grand Prix results (race 2/21, 25 laps = 120.15 km; top 10 only):

1. Álex Rins (Sp., Honda) 41::14.649
2. Luca Marini (Ita., Ducati) +3.498
3. Fabio Quartararo (Fra., Yamaha) +4.936
4. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) +8.318
5. Miguel Oliveira (Por., Aprilia) +9.989
6. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) +12.049
7. Johann Zarco (Fra., Ducati) +12.242
8. Franco Morbidelli (Ita., Yamaha) +20.399
9. Fabio di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) +27.981
10. Augusto Fernández (Span., KTM) +28.217

2023 MotoGP rider standings (after 3/21; top 10 only)::

1. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 64
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 53
3. Álex Rins (Spa., Honda) 47
4. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 45
5. Johann Zarco (Fra., Ducati) 44
6. Luca Marini (Ita., Ducati) 38
7. Fabio Quartararo (Fra., Yamaha) 34
8. Álex Márquez (Sp., Ducati) 33
9. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 30
10. Franco Morbidelli (Ita., Yamaha) 29

Source : MotoGP