Thoughts by Kate Adams
Nothing could stop Factory Aprilia's Maverick Vinales at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend. Aprilia actually managed to make it through a weekend without seeing its notorious technical issues that have plagued the Italian manufacturer to date. The fact that he won both races doesn't tell the whole story; with elbows-out front-corner action, Vinales was pushed back to P11 on the first lap of the Grand Prix, but the Spaniard pulled off some daring overtakes to regain the lead. Not only did Vinales clinch the top spot on both days, teammate Aleix Espargaro picked up a P7 in the Grand Prix after a P5 in the sprint. Espargaro said after the race that he was happy with these results as this was not his strongest track.
Trackhouse Racing had a comfortable home race; the fledgling team saw Raul Fernandez pick up points in both races with a P9 in the Sprint and a P10 in the Grand Prix. Across the garage, Miguel Oliveira suffered from some mid-pack infighting, dropping him down to P11 in the Grand Prix, matching his result from Saturday. For such a new team and with two riders getting used to the RS-GP24 (Raul's engine and Miguel's entire bike), I think we will see more positive steps for this team in upcoming races.
While Maverick Vinales put on a perfect performance throughout this weekend, he wasn't the only rider to deliver a powerful performance. Once again, GasGas saw rookie rider Pedro Acosta amazing audiences. Not only did the rookie battle with the best on Saturday, finishing in P4, but it was on Sunday that he truly shone. Opting for the medium tire choice, Acosta fought up front for the entire race, leading several laps before finishing on the second step of the podium. Across the garage, Augusto Fernandez retired with a technical issue on Saturday. Sunday was more successful, with Fernandez picking up a pair of points.
While the satellite KTM team will be happy with their results, the same can't be said for the factory team. Brad Binder blundered qualifying after crashing in Q1 set his weekend up for a struggle. The South African rider was sporting a broken foot from a pre-weekend crash, it's unknown if this effected his results with no points collected on Saturday, he continued to be a Sunday man with a ride from P17 on the grid to P9. Teammate Jack Miller had opposite days to Binder with a strong Saturday, finishing in P7, the Australian then went on to do what is becoming very common on Sundays and that is fight at the front before falling back. He crossed the line in P13 in the Grand Prix.
Factory Ducati saw Enea Bastianini picking up important championship points with a P6 in the sprint starting off his weekend successfully. It was Sunday when he shined brightest, picking up the third podium place. Both Bastianini and teammate Pecco Bagnaia commented that they suffered from a lack of grip in the Sprint. Bagnaia finished behind his teammate on both days with a P8 in the Sprint followed by a P5 in the Grand Prix.
World Championship leader Jorge Martin maintained his lead at the conclusion of COTA, continuing his theme of Saturday Sprint success by picking up another podium with a P3. Sunday saw the Spaniard just outside the podium positions with a P4, resulting in a very nice points haul for the Prima Pramac rider. Fellow Pramac rider Franco Morbidelli showed some strong form this weekend. While he was unable to translate the performance into points, Morbidelli is clearly making significant strides forward on the Desmosedici GP24.
Over on the Desmosedici GP23 bikes, VR46 had a Saturday to forget. A mechanical issue forced F. Digiannantonio to retire from the race, while teammate Marco Bezzecchi finished in P13. Fortunately, their form didn't follow them into the Sunday Grand Prix, with Diggia picking up double-digit points in P6 and Bezzecchi finishing in P8.
Coming into this weekend, all eyes couldn't help but wonder about Marc Marquez, whose success at this circuit has seen him crowned the King of COTA 8 times throughout his career. While the Spaniard was strong on Saturday, picking up a P2, that success was short-lived. After he took the lead of the Grand Prix on Sunday, he crashed out, leading to a double DNF for Gresini Ducati after Alex Marquez also crashed out, solidifying a weekend to forget for the younger Marquez brother, as he didn't pick up points, finishing in P14 in the Saturday Sprint.
The Japanese manufacturers continue to struggle. Honda saw only one of its four riders finish each day of the weekend, with Joan Mir, Johann Zarco, and Takaaki Nakagami all experiencing double DNFs. Luca Marini, riding for Repsol Honda, was the last rider to cross the finish line in both races.
Yamaha didn't fare much better, with Fabio Quartararo picking up P12 in the Grand Prix after a P15 finish in the Sprint. Teammate Alex Rins, who won here on the Honda last year, finished the Sprint in P16 before crashing out of the Sunday race.
Results:
Sprint | Grand Prix | |
1 | M. Vinales | M. Vinales |
2 | M. Marquez | P. Acosta |
3 | J. Martin | E. Bastianini |
4 | P. Acosta | J. Martin |
5 | A. Espargaro | F. Bagnaia |
6 | E. Bastianini | F. Digiannantonio |
7 | J. Miller | A. Espargaro |
8 | F. Bagnaia | M. Bezzecchi |
9 | R. Fernandez | B. Binder |
10 | F. Morbidelli | R. Fernandez |
11 | M. Oliveira | M. Oliveira |
12 | B. Binder | F. Quartararo |
13 | M. Bezzecchi | J. Miller |
14 | A. Marquez | A. Fernandez |
15 | F. Quartararo | A. Marquez |
16 | A. Rins | L. Marini |
17 | L. Marini | DNF: A. Rins |
18 | DNF: J. Zarco | DNF: M. Marquez |
19 | DNF: J. Mir | DNF: J. Mir |
20 | DNF: A. Fernandez | DNF: F. Morbidelli |
21 | DNF: T. Nakagami | DNF: J. Zarco |
22 | DNF: F. Di Giannantonio | DNF: T. Nakagami |
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