MotoGP Round 3 Recap: Marquez Bags 5th US GP Win

MotoGP Round 3 Recap: Marquez Bags 5th US GP Win

The United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) at Austin, Texas. Marquez does it for a fifth time, Vinales crashes out and Rossi proves he's still got it.

Today was the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the America’s in Austin, Texas for round three of the 2017 MotoGP season. COTA is one of the newest venues on the MotoGP calendar, a pristine technical track with a myriad of sharp direction changes with several long (and I mean long) straights making it one of the most physically demanding tracks.

In recent years Marc Marquez has consistently dominated at the Texas track, but with some MotoGP rookies clocking in some seriously fast times in practice and qualifying, and a seemingly tenacious Maverick Vinales aboard a Yamaha for 2017, Marquez has his hands full if he wants to continue his US win streak.

Vinales was seemingly aware of Marquez’s experience at COTA and mentioned that he’d be content taking home second place, but like all motorcycle racers, winning is always the main objective. Jorge Lorenzo from the start of the weekend had been aiming to make noticeable progress aboard the Ducati, the first bike he’s ridden in the premier class other than the Yamaha on which he bagged multiple world championships.

Despite a less-than-epic race last round, race fans - myself included - had high hopes for seeing some world class motorcycle racing today under the Texas sun.

When the lights went out, Marquez had clinched the hole-shot alongside his Repsol teammate Dani Pedrosa who had started from the second row. Next was premier class OG, Valentino Rossi, followed by his old teammate and rival, Lorenzo and then Vinales. Wasting no time, Vinales stole his fourth place position back from Lorenzo on his straight-loving Ducati with Johan Zarco just behind. Pedrosa remained in the lead, with Marquez and the Movistar Yamahas behind them. Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso jostled for a position behind Zarco.

Two laps later and positions remained mostly the same. Suddenly on turn 18, Vinales lost the front end and crashed out, ending his perfect season (of two races). While understandably frustrated after clocking in some fast times in practice and qualifying in Texas, the young Spanish rider was uninjured the high-speed crash.

Just like that, the long anticipated battle between Vinales and Marquez will, again, have to come another day.

The Repsol Hondas kept the hammer down and managed to stay out in front while Zarco set his sights on Rossi, who still appears to be having some problems with his bike upon corner entries. As Zarco approached Vale’s rear wheel he seemed to push his bike’s tires to their limit for several turns, leaving Zarco in the dust and setting himself up to attack Marquez. Pedrosa’s minor mistakes at this point had not yet cost him the lead as his tiny frame and subsequent lower weight gives him better drive out of corners.

At this point in the race, the order was: Pedrosa outfront followed by Marquez, Rossi, Zarco, Crutchlow, Dovizioso, Lorenzo, (Jack) Miller, (Jonas) Folger and (Scott) Redding to round out the top ten.

Both Repsol riders opted for hard front and rear tire options (Pedrosa did use a medium option tire on the front) which should have allowed them to maintain their pace until the checkered flag. With 15 laps to go, Zarco had started closing the gap on Rossi who had fallen behind the orange Hondas. Coming into the iconic red and blue “S-turns”, Zarco made contact with Rossi’s M1, sending the nine-time world champion off the track, the type of move that will earn the young Frenchman the kind of reputation nobody wants in the premier class. Interestingly however Rossi end up being forced to cut across a section of track which landed him just behind Marquez. (Normally you would be penalized for doing that but because he was nudged by Zarco there was nothing Rossi could do, still Rossi was given a third of a second penalty as the collision did result in an advantageous outcome for the Doctor).

With 14 laps to go Marquez started to get within striking range of Pedrosa. By turn 11, #93 did what he does best and abused the hell out of his Honda’s brakes in the form of late/out braking his #26 teammate. The overtake would only stick for several seconds as Pedrosa had enough drive to regain his lead, but now him and Marquez were almost neck and neck. Rossi, Zarco and Crutchlow rounded out the top 5 with a full second between Rossi and the races leaders. On the next lap Marquez would attack again on turn 8, only this time it would stick. A win for Marquez felt like a real possibility at this point, especially without a hungry Vinales who would likely have tried an attack at some point.

After five consecutive wins at the US GP at COTA it is no mystery why Alpinestars have released a limited edition Marquez/COTA pair of boots complete with a number 93 and Lady Liberty (Statue of Liberty) graphics in red, white and blue.

Toward the end of the next lap, Loriz Baz suffered a low side at turn 19, taking him out of the race. Pol Espargaro experienced a mechanical problem aboard his KTM and was also forced to bow out of the race after starting alongside his brother from the very back of the grid. A patient and seasoned Crutchlow slowly began closing the gap between him and rookie Zarco, hoping his experience might afford him a victory over the two-time Moto2 Champ who is still learning the premier class ropes.

With 11 laps to go Alvaro Bautista crashed out on turn 11 from towards the rear of the grid.

On turn 12 of the same lap, just after a long straight, Pedrosa surprised Marquez (and damn near everyone) when he managed to late brake and overtake his teammate, making the pass look easy. Marquez right away began his counter attack. Though he couldn’t find anywhere to make a pass on Pedrosa he nonetheless positioned himself on Pedrosa’s rear wheel, waiting for his time to strike.

Sam Lowes then crashed out, resulting in Aprilia going home disappointed though Espargaro did rejoin the race to pick up any points he could. With 7 laps to go, Crutchlow - who had been setting up on Zarco - came into a corner too hot and ran wide, falling further behind the French rookie though not losing his position in 5th place. At the same time Andrea Iannone, who signed with Ecstar Suzuki for 2017, managed to make his way up the field until he landed behind Lorenzo, the man who took Iannone's seat at factory Ducati.

With six laps to go, Marquez began proving he had made a wise choice selecting hard option tires as he began clocking some of the fastest laps of the race while other racer’s tires became increasingly chewed up, ultimately gaining a full 3 second advantage over Pedrosa. Rossi, who would get a three-tenths of a second penalty upon the race's completion was only three-tenths of a second behind Pedrosa and over a full second ahead of Zarco.

The most exciting clash of the race was now between Lorenzo and Iannone, with the Suzuki rider looking to make a move on the Ducati. Crutchlow had again closed the gap on Zarco and appeared to be setting up on the Monster Tech 3 Frenchman. Even with a substantial lead, Marquez continued to push his bike to its limits (as he’s known to do), earning himself an ever-widening gap over the rest of the field following him with just 4 laps to go.

With 3 laps remaining the Repsol team did their best to make their riders aware of Rossi’s penalty and Vinales' crash for fear that Pedrosa or Marquez would push themselves too hard. “Magnet” also appeared on Marquez’s board, indicating that his hard option front tire was actually nearing the end of his life, ultimately a warning for the fast Spaniard to keep it cool in the final laps.

Rossi then made his move on Pedrosa, shooting up the inside of the jockey-sized racer, making the pass stick. With a .3 second penalty, this means Rossi would now have to get ahead of Pedrosa by more than .3 seconds if he were to claim second place, though even a third place finish would put Mr. VR46 in first place in the season’s overall standings. Unfortunately Rossi didn't know about the penalty so he didn’t put the hammer down and establish the necessary lead over the #26 Repsol pilot in the final two laps.

Two laps remaining. Rossi’s team seemed to be debating whether or not to make him aware of his penalty. On one side he would know to push himself that much harder for second place, but it could also result in him going too hard and losing what then appeared to be a guaranteed podium and a first place in the overall standings. In the end the Movistar camp would opt not to inform Rossi of his penalty, though the Repsol folks did let Pedrosa know (via their board) that he should get within striking range to ensure 2nd place.

Still with two laps to go, Crutchlow finally found a way up the inside of Zarco who was none too happy about losing the position he had held for almost the entire race and right away attempted to counter-attack the #35 LCR Honda rider.

At the start of the final lap Rossi still had a 1.7 second lead over Pedrosa and Marquez was so far out in front that - as long as he managed to stay on his bike (because he has struggled with this before) the top of the podium was clearly his for a fifth straight year.

On this day, Marquez did he manage to pull off this feat and rode to victory for his first win (and podium) of the season well ahead of Rossi and Pedrosa. Crutchlow was able to keep his position over an aggressive Zarco, followed by Dovizioso in sixth. Iannone and Petrucci were able to pass a frustrated Lorenzo, in front of Miller, making up the top ten. Folger finished 11th, Redding 12th, (Tito) Rabat 13th, (Hector) Barbera 14th, and Bautista, who earlier in the race crashed was able to finish and take home some points while doing so.

Seeing Marquez win at COTA again today, especially after Vinales crashed out was really no surprise, though today was his first win since clinching the world championship last year at the Japan GP.

Along with Marquez, Pedrosa and the rest of the Repsol camp must be especially satisfied with today’s results since both their riders crashed out of round two in Argentina.

Thirty-eight-year-old Rossi has again proven to be competitive, making the possibility of an all-time record of TEN world championships more probable than ever. His second place finish today means the doctor is now in first place in the league standings. In addition to that, the next round is at Jerez where Rossi won last year, though it being Vinales’ home track may prove to be a challenge for Rossi.

Because of the final results of the race today, the controversial penalty Rossi was given today won’t become blown out of proportion. Had the .3 seconds been the difference between second and third place, this would have started a massive debate amongst the MotoGP fans and community. Without a doubt one result would be the legions of die-hard Rossi fans blaming rookie Zarco.

In qualifying and practice this weekend Marquez crashed out twice, though that didn’t appear to phase him. The United States has increasingly become a fan of Marquez, and Marquez would appear to be a big fan of the States, having won his ninth US GP today. (Including COTA, Indy and Laguna). Marquez is such a fan that the #93 Repsol racer sports a limited edition stars and stripes helmet, gloves and boots with the patriotic, red, white and blue design.

Crashing out of today’s race after winning the first two rounds of the season no doubt came as a blow to Vinales, though his mistake today reminded us that he’s human. Lorenzo appeared to make some progress, though the final laps of the race showed he still has a long way to go before being competitive aboard the Ducati. Having signed a two-year contract with the iconic Italian manufacturer means he will have no choice but to make the bike work, however he manages to do so.

While today’s twenty turns made for an exciting race, we still didn’t get what we’ve been waiting for: the Vinales vs. Marquez clash. They need to finish a race together without one of them wrecking.

Zarco is proving to be a real contender as he gets more experience on a premier class machine. Within the next couple of years he may become a world champion.

With a grid jam-packed with talent and world-class motorcycles, the next fifteen rounds promise to deliver more thrilling races.

Alex Rins missed today's race due to a broken wrist on Saturday…

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 43m 58.770s
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 44m 1.839s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 44m 3.882s
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 44m 6.408s
5. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 44m 6.727s
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 44m 12.828s
7. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 44m 14.261s
8. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 44m 15.542s
9. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 44m 16.749s
10. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 44m 17.264s
11. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 44m 17.673s
12. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 44m 27.505s
13. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 44m 28.811s
14. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 44m 30.134s
15. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 45m 5.317s
16. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 45m 20.860s
17. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +2 laps
    Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* DNF
    Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) DNF
    Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) DNF
    Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) DNF
    Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) DNF

• Rookie