2019 MotoGP preview: Rd3, Austin

The 2019 MotoGP season resumes in the US this weekend (April 12-14) for round three of the championship at the technical Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

With Marc Marquez taking the title lead after a dominant display last time out in Argentina, a daunting task lies ahead for the rest of field: can anyone hold a candle to the Spaniard in Austin? The five-time world champion has a perfect record in Texas, unbeaten there in all six MotoGP visits since 2013.

Related: Marquez dominates in Argentina

For Marquez, his favourable record at Circuit of the Americas doesn’t hold any guarantees this weekend.

“Yeah, of course, Austin has been a really good circuit for me since 2013 so let’s see,” said the reigning world champion, who comes into the Americas GP four points clear of nearest rival, Andrea Dovizioso.

“It is true that this year we arrive in very good shape, in Argentina and in Qatar also, we have a solid base. It’s important I feel comfortable but let’s see here.

“We will start from FP1 like always and not be crazy, not to do something that isn’t in our hands, try to ride like I know and then let’s see. Let’s see the opponents and also the weather, it looks like Saturday will be so-so but apart from that try to enjoy this amazing circuit.

“But we need to understand if it is possible because anything can happen in the motorbike world and this is the nice thing about this sport, if something happens we need to understand and take points for the championship.”

Marquez’s success at COTA is primarily put down to its 5.5km layout, which favours the Spaniard’s style of riding, and particularly, his preference of left-hand turns.

The man who is being touted as Marquez’s most likely challenger at COTA is Dovizioso. Despite a patchy record for Ducati at the circuit, the Italian carries some confidence into the weekend following a strong start to the season.

“Well, I’m really happy about the weekend in Argentina,” he said. “Our speed was really good, we didn’t expect that so I’m happy because it confirms our good pace. It would be nice if it’s like this.

“For sure, Marc has shown in the past he is the king of this track so it will be very difficult for everybody to fight with him. But anyway, we have to bring the maximum points so we are focused on that and during the weekend anything can happen.”

Many eyes will be on fellow Ducati rider, Jack Miller, another potential threat this weekend. The Australian is arguably in career-best form in the MotoGP category, revelling in the change to the GP19 machine.

“It’s great to be back,” Miller said of his fourth-place result in Argentina. “It’s nice to go away from the weekend with a decent result – after Qatar I went away almost depressed after my seat flew off.”

Miller, 24, hopes to continue his promising start to the season. He puts his recent purple patch down to a change in machinery, along with greater maturity.

“It got difficult at the end of last year, I think that was to do with being on the GP17 machine – as the other bikes were developing during the year we were still staying where we were,” Miller said. “It’s nice to know this year we’ll be able to fight for the whole season. We’ve shown in Qatar and Argentina that we’ve got good pace and Austin is normally a track that I like.

“I know when I come onto a straight now that I’m not losing metres and braking like an idiot and cooking the front tyre. I feel like I’ve matured as a rider and the practices we’re doing are good testing for the race simulation.

“I struggled with a small injury last year but I’m looking forward to coming here 100 per cent fit this year.”

Meantime, Yamaha factory rider Valentino Rossi returns to the US bristling with enthusiasm after his breakthrough podium in Argentina – his first since the Sachsenring last year.

Rossi, 40, was typically measured in his assessment of the weekend ahead, and of Marquez’s dominance in Austin.

“Yes the numbers to now say that Marc is unbeatable because he wins always. But no matter, you don’t start at home thinking he’s impossible to beat. We always try to improve, try to be strong and try to arrive in front.”

Rossi described the Austin circuit as one of the most technical across the calendar. He admits to struggling with the layout when MotoGP first began visiting in 2013.

“The first year I was very slow, I needed a bit more time to understand the track,” he said. “From 2014, I was not so bad. I had a problem with the front tyre in 2014 but I was quite fast. It’s a very tricky track because there are a lot of points where you can lose it.”

Alex Rins has enjoyed success in the lower classes in Austin, while his factory Suzuki has traditionally been strong there in recent years – a pairing that bodes well this weekend.
The 23-year-old says the key to a successful outing this time round will be a stronger qualifying performance.

“On races, we are very strong. We have good speed in practice, good speed in the race, but we need to improve qualifying to improve front positions for the race,” Rins said. “Otherwise you destroy the tyre trying to overtake a lot of tyres. We need to improve.”

CURRENT MOTOGP STANDINGS

The Circuit of the Americas will be yet another important weekend for Australian Remy Gardner in the Moto2 category, who is fresh from a career-best second-place finish in Argentina.

Gardner is currently second in the Moto2 title standings, 17pts adrift of Lorenzo Baldassarri.

Network 10 will broadcast the Americas Grand Prix from 4.30am on Monday, April 16.