Rins' maiden MotoGP win, Miller third

Alex Rins secured Suzuki’s first MotoGP win since the 2016 British GP after edging out Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi in an extraordinary race at the Circuit of the America (COTA) in Austin, Texas, with Aussie Jack Miller third.

Rins’ victory also snapped the unbeaten streak of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) at COTA, as the reigning world champion crashed out of the lead while in total control.

That left Rossi and Rins to fight it out for the victory, and it was the Spaniard who had all the answers as Suzuki returned to the MotoGP winner’s circle.

FULL RESULTS HERE

“It’s incredible! I’m very happy to win the race here! In warm-up this morning we tried a different set-up and it didn’t work in the way we expected, so we reverted to the usual settings for the race and we won, it’s super!” said Rins.

“I’m lost for words! I managed the pressure well, even though I suffered a bit in the last laps. When I crossed the line all the feelings hit me at once. I just want to say a big thank you to all my team, everyone in Japan, and all the people around me!”

Crutchlow’s race then came to a premature end as he crashed out of contention on lap six, which started a chain reaction of Texas hauntings for Honda. With a three-second lead on lap nine, Marquez was clear of the rest and the magnificent seven was well in sight. But then the unthinkable happened. The King of COTA crashed, turn 12 the place as the No. 93 tucked the front and it was race over, his RC213V didn’t want to restart and his crown was lost.

But who would Marquez’ crown be going to? Rins had got past Miller for third and it was soon Rossi versus Rins for the Americas GP win. 10 to go, Rossi was cracking the whip at the front with Rins less than half a second back, their gap to Miller was over two seconds as the Australian found himself in a lonely third.

It was all about the duo at the front though. Rossi going for premier class win number 90, Rins going for that illustrious first. With four laps to go there was still nothing between them but then, at turn seven, Rins made his move. A clean and crisp pass up the inside of ‘The Doctor’. The latter then attempted to bite straight back at turn 12, but he was in too hot and ran wide. This left Rins with a 0.7-second advantage with three to go and then with two to go, with the gap still hovering at half a second, Rossi ran in deep at turn 11. Race over? Not quite.

Rins was holding his nerve and the gap was 0.7 seconds – but Rossi wasn’t done. The 40-year-old edged closer to the Suzuki in each of the first two sectors and suddenly the gap was down to 0.3 in the fourth sector – but it wasn’t enough.

Rins trumped Rossi in America and came home to take his first MotoGP victory and, in doing so, became the first rider to win at COTA in all the classes. Rossi settled for a second consecutive second of the season to claim his 198th premier class podium as he leaves COTA second in the championship, 2pts behind Dovi with Rins a further two back in third.

Nearly eight seconds back, Miller held off some late pressure from a fellow GP19 to take his first Ducati podium. Elation for the Australian, with Dovizioso recovering superbly to earn fourth in Texas – the championship lead is his heading into Europe.

“I am very happy with this result. The feeling with the bike was very good all weekend. I got off to a good start and this allowed me to be in the front group right away. I thank the team because they have done a great job not only this weekend but since the beginning of the season,” said Miller.

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) would come across the line in fifth to pick up his best premier class result, he beat compatriot Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) – a third sixth in a row for the Italian.

Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was another rider to grab his best MotoGP result in seventh, another strong ride for the leading rookie, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) taking his and KTM’s best result of the season in 8th. The Spaniard held off reigning Moto2 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) by 0.8 seconds as the Italian also picked up his best premier class result.

Tenth went the way of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), the leading Honda in Austin, with Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) 11th. Both he and compatriot Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) were handed ride-through penalties after jump starts, with Viñales taking the long lap penalty at least once before coming through pitlane.

Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Reale Avintia Racing’s Tito Rabat completed the points.

Top 10:
1. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar)
2. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.462
3. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) + 8.454
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) + 9.420
5. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 18.021
6. Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) + 21.476
7. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 26.111
8. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 29.743
9. Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) + 30.608
10. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 31.011