Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins took a surprise win at the Circuit of the Americas, beating Rossi to claim his first ever class win in the premiere, as well as Suzuki’s first MotoGP win since the 2016 British GP.
It may have been only the third race of the 2019 season, but the American Grand Prix could go under as a major turning point this season as reigning champion Marc Marquez is out of leadership of the race – a costly mistake that shows he is falling from the Top of the championship standings in 4th place. Over the weekend, Marquez looked good to take his seventh straight win at the Circuit of the Americas. Starting from pole position, the Repsol Honda rider began to break away from the rest of the field and on lap 9 his lead had increased to over 3.0 seconds. However, at turn 12 he suffered a low point on the same lap and was unable to rejoin the race.
The incident gave Rossi the lead, followed closely by Alex Rins. The Yamaha rider managed to stop Rins’ progress, but the latter managed to get past in less than four laps. Rossi tried to regain the position but never got close enough to successfully make a move.
Jack Miller from Pramac Ducati was eight seconds behind the top pair and managed to hold off works Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso. After Dovizioso started from 13th on the grid, he managed to recover impressively and took 4th place. He gave him enough points to now lead the championship.
The teammates of the two best drivers – Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and Suzuki’s Joan Mir – received drive-through penalties for starts, which put them in the order. From 6th and 7th on the grid, both drivers were strong competitors for a top 5 result. Vinales made it to eleventh place despite mistakenly serving both the long lap penalty and the drive-through penalty.
Marquez’s fall wasn’t the only gaffe on Honda’s weekend. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had technical difficulties and had to pull out as he fought for a place in the top 10. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow started in the front row in 3rd place, but a fall on lap 5 put an end to his chance for a podium finish. His team-mate Taka Nakagami was the only Honda rider to cross the finish line in tenth.
Results:
|
POS |
DRIVER |
TEAM |
LAPS |
GAP |
|
1 |
Alex Rins |
Suzuki |
20th |
41m45.499s |
|
2 |
Valentino Rossi |
Yamaha |
20th |
0.462 s |
|
3rd |
Jack Miller |
Pramac Ducati |
20th |
8,454s |
|
4th |
Andrea Dovizioso |
Ducati |
20th |
9.420s |
|
5 |
Franco Morbidelli |
Petronas Yamaha |
20th |
18.021s |
|
6th |
Danilo Petrucci |
Ducati |
20th |
21.476s |
|
7th |
Fabio Quartararo |
Petronas Yamaha |
20th |
26.111s |
|
8th |
Pol Espargaro |
KTM |
20th |
29.743s |
|
9 |
Francesco Bagnaia |
Pramac Ducati |
20th |
30.608s |
|
10 |
Takaaki Nakagami |
LCR Honda |
20th |
31.011s |
|
11 |
Maverick Vinales |
Yamaha |
20th |
34.077s |
|
12th |
Andrea Iannone |
Aprilia |
20th |
34.779s |
|
13th |
Johann Zarco |
KTM |
20th |
42.458s |
|
14th |
Miguel Oliveira |
Tech3 KTM |
20th |
44.272s |
|
15th |
Tito Rabat |
Avintia Ducati |
20th |
44.623s |
|
16 |
Karel Abraham |
Avintia Ducati |
20th |
44.740s |
|
17th |
Joan Mir |
Suzuki |
20th |
48.063s |
|
18th |
Hafizh Syahrin |
Tech3 KTM |
20th |
1m07.683s |
|
– – |
Jorge Lorenzo |
Honda |
10 |
retirement |
|
– – |
Marc Marquez |
Honda |
8th |
retirement |
|
– – |
Cal Crutchlow |
LCR Honda |
5 |
retirement |
|
– – |
Aleix Espargaro |
Aprilia |
5 |
retirement |