Texas is the lone star state and sadly if this was one of those reviews we sometimes check before going to a venue, a single star is all this track would get. The majority of riders and others in MotoGP were vocal that the bumps and poor tarmac were unacceptable and moreover, dangerous. Let’s hope the situation can be rectified, so we can return to the USA next year.
Qualifying:
No surprises here as the on-form Francesco Bagnaia put his Ducati on pole, for the third time in a row, however, Yamaha’s superstar Fabio Quartararo was there too, in P2. P3 was the reserve of Marc Marquez, the Honda rider who is getting stronger every time he returns to the bike.
The Race:
Marc Marquez shot off the line to take the lead to assert his position as Captain America, as the Americans like to say the winningest rider at the COTA in the premier class. Fabio Quartararo, mindful of his championship aspirations, tucked into P2, and an early run for Alex Rins had him P3, Bagnaia P4.
On lap two Takaaki Nakagami dropped his Honda out of sixth place, leaving the next Honda Pol Espargaro in tenth. This puts into perspective just how hard Marquez is working to overcome his previous injuries which are still ailing him, as he is consistently the top Honda rider, by far. To underline this Marc was holding his lead with a slight advantage over Fabio in P2 and Alex Rins in P3 who was having his own battle with Jorge Martin, who used the Ducati’s ride/height advantage to then take Rins for P3.
There was much speculation about how Marc Marquez would handle the bumps and sketchy tarmac around COTA, in essence, how much it would take out of him physically, but with 12 laps to go out of 20, Marc had pulled a 1.845 second gap over the cautious Fabio Quartararo. Jorge Martin was holding station in P3 with Miller now P4, Rins P5 and Bagnaia P6.
On the last lap, Marc had a 4.507 second gap over P2 man Quartararo, who in turn had a 4.48 second gap over Bagnaia in P3, and so it remained as Marquez took the chequered flag for a sublime win over his rivals. Marc was back, and then some.
Results:
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, P1. Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, P2. Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Lenovo Team, P3.
In post-race interviews Marc said that he had a plan for the race and that he had executed it on point, getting away at the start and then mid-race pulling a gap. Marquez has shown that he has the determination to put all his physical problems to one side, and the mental capacity to overcome what has been a strenuous and at times emotional journey back to the top. If only he could bottle it up and sell it, he would be a multi-millionaire all over again. Remember this is the guy who offered to pay Honda back the 25 million Euros they paid him in 2020, they refused, wise men at HRC!
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Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
