Red Bull Motorsports
MotoGP
Everything you need to know about the Grand Prix of the Americas
The temperatures were high and so were the stakes in Texas, but reigning MotoGP champion Marc Márquez did what he does best and kept his cool to claim victory at the epic Circuit of the Americas.
Was it ever in doubt? Marc Márquez was denied pole position after blocking compatriot Maverick Vinales who was on a hot lap in qualifying and the Honda man ended up demoted to third… not that it made any difference.
At the start of the third race of the 2018 season Márquez didn’t hang about and passed a fast starting Andrea Ianonne half way around lap one, and despite a bold passing attempt from the Yamaha rider, Marquez didn’t look back, nailed some fastest laps and took the win.
Unbeaten on American soil, Márquez took his sixth win from six Stateside races and once again proved that in Texas there is nobody faster.
Crutchlow crashes out
Becoming the first back-to-back winning British winner since Barry Sheene back in 1977 was always going to be a tall order for the Honda rider, who qualified seventh but threw it away when he slid off just before the halfway point.
Crutchlow was involved in a mouth-watering battle for fifth with Andrea Dovizioso and Johann Zarco, but low-sided off the black stuff just on the final turn and kissed goodbye to his championship lead.
The tough Brit managed to hop back on his bike and stagger back up the field to set some top-three lap times and limp home in 19th.
Pedrosa powers through the pain barrier... again
Full of painkillers and with pins and plates in his wrist following his crash in Argentina, Honda’s Dani Pedrosa qualified a solid ninth, and crossed the line in a stellar seventh.
To make things more difficult, the Honda rider’s throttle wrist was the body part causing the most grief, but for the umpteenth time in a brilliant career, the diminutive rider was rapid and consistent despite suffering from an injury that would render most people incapable of even sitting on a motorcycle.
Dani Pedrosa
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
Dovizioso and Ducati lead the championship
It is safe to say COTA is not a favourite with the boys and girls at Ducati. Whilst Jorge Lorenzo tooled about just outside the top 10, and endured some rough stuff from Jack Miller, team-mate Dovizioso dragged his Ducati up to fifth, hunting down and passing Johann Zarco’s Yamaha.
Valentino Rossi, who competed a somewhat uneventful race in fourth, was too far down the road to be caught, but by finishing a rather unexpected fifth and clocking up vital championship points in the Lone Star State, it was the best of a bad job for Dovizioso and the Italian leaves North America top dog in the championship standings.
Márquez could have started from pole position...
The Spaniard went barrel racing ahead of Austin
Watch how Jackie Ganter meets up with Marc Márquez at a ranch in Texas to show him the ropes of barrel racing:
3 min
Jackie Ganter and Marc Márquez go barrel racing in Texas
Jackie Ganter shows Marc Márquez the ropes of barrel racing at Dripping Springs Ranch in Texas.
Time to remember the Kentucky Kid:
Márquez always feels at home in Austin:
The world champion went bowling... Is there anything he's bad at?
Márquez posed with some of his favourite Supercross riders in Minneapolis. Here, with GEICO Honda's Christian Craig:
No doubt he's human though:
