Enea takes MotoGP victory in Texas

Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) is back on top of the world after winning a perfectly timed Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas, ahead of Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) and Aussie Jack Miller (Lenovo Ducati).

Miller led for all but five laps of the 20-lap race and only lost second place to Rins in the last few corners. The podium finish was his best result for the season so far.

Despite missing out on the win, he didn’t seem disappointed in parc ferme, when he said: “I tried my best, I can’t fault myself.”

Miller started the race from the middle of the front row, between pole man Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) and teammate Pecco Bagnaia and, while he was eventually beaten by the GP21 ridden by Bastianini, Martin and Bagnaia faded to finish eighth and fifth respectively.

The ride of the day, however, went to the man with the best record around the Circuit of the Americas, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda). He started from ninth on the grid but an issue at the start dropped the Spaniard all the way back to second last by the first corner of the opening lap. And then, in classic Marc Marquez style, he fought his way back to sixth by the finish line, even holding off a late attack by reigning world champ Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) on the last lap.

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Joan Mir (Ecstar Suzuki) finished fourth behind his teammate Rins, proving just how far the Japanese factory has come in the last 12 months, as the Suzuki pair passed and fended off a gaggle of Ducatis at a track where horsepower and top-end speed play an important role.

Bastianini’s win is his second in just four attempts, with the Italian showing once again just how good he is at tyre preservation in the later stages of races. By three-quarter race distance, Miller had as much as a 0.9sec advantage at the front of the field and Bastianini was coming under all sorts of pressure from Rins, who was doing everything he could to find a way past the Italian.

“When Rins tried to overtake me many times, I think, ‘Okay, now it’s time to push’, to go on the front,” he said.

And push he did (“like a bastard”, were his words in parc ferme). He eased past Miller with four-and-a-half laps to go and had eked out a 0.6sec gap just one lap later, eventually crossing the line over two seconds clear of second place.

When Miller and Rins crossed the line for the penultimate time, there was just 0.3sec separating the pair, but the Aussie didn’t have the same last-race pace as the Suzuki man, who celebrated the Japanese factory’s 500th grand prix podium in America.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) finished ninth despite running up the front in the early stages of the race and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) finished ahead of his teammate Aleix Espargaro for the first time this season, a sign the Spaniard might be finally coming to terms with the V4 Aprilia RS-GP.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) was the best-placed KTM in 12th and Aussie Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM) finished 20th from the 22 eventual finishers as he continues to comes to terms with a MotoGP machine.

Bastianini’s second win of the seasons puts him five points clear of Rins with 61 points to Rins’ 56. Aleix Espargaro (50) drops to third overall ahead of Mir (46) and Quartararo (44). Miller’s podium lifts him to seventh overall on 31 points.

Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing) was the biggest beneficiary of a chaotic Moto2 Grand Prix, celebrating his maiden intermediate-class victory ahead of Ai Ogura and Jake Dixon, as a handful of protagonists failed to see the chequered flag.

Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46) took the holeshot and had half a second in hand ahead of championship rival Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) just half way around the opening lap.

Further back, a bold move by Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Team Asia) took out Sam Lowes (Marc VDS Racing) and forced another three riders out of the race. Canet found a way past Vietti on the third lap, and the pair looked to be in a class of their own with a 0.8sec gap back to Arbolino by just lap four, but fate would prove otherwise.

It was Vietti who went first, losing the front the next time around and handing the championship lead to Canet, who looked in charge of the race. But three laps later, Canet also found himself down and out of the race, as Arbolini took the lead with Dixon all of a sudden in second place ahead of Ogura.

The Japanese man made it to the line ahead of Dixon, who admitted he rolled off in the final stages to cement his first-ever world championship podium. There was late heartache for pole man Cameron Baubier who crashed out of the top 10 on the final lap.

Vietti (70 points) holds onto the championship lead, with a 14-point advantage over Ogura (56), who moves up two spots to second overall ahead of Arbolino (54) in third. Canet’s mistake was costly – he drops back to fourth (49) ahead of Chantra (45), who will need to serve a long-lap penalty next time out in Portugal.

Jaume Masia (Red Bull Ajo) won his first Moto3 grand prix since the opening GP of Qatar last year ahead of Dennis Foggia (Leopard Honda) and pole man Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Honda).

It was an impressive ride for young Spaniard, who found himself as low as 15th place on just the second lap, but took the lead for the first time just six laps later.

With seven laps to go, a leading group of seven had found themselves well over two seconds clear of the chasing pack. A crash from talented rookie Diogo Moreira late in the race reduced the pack to six, and while Foggia looked determined to snatch the win, with title rival Sergio Garcia (Aspar GasGas) eventually retiring following a crash, the Italian needed to keep his nose clean in order to capitalise, and an eventual second place did just that.

Foggia (74 points) is now 16 points clear of Garcia (58) in the standings, with Migno (41) in third ahead of Aspar GasGas rider Izan Guevara (37) and Red Bull KTM Ajo Deniz Oncu (37).

The series now heads to Europe for Round 5, set to take place in Portugal over April 22 to 24.