Alex Rins won the MotoGP race on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas. (MotoGP photo)
AUSTIN, Texas – Suzuki’s Alex Rins took a groundbreaking MotoGP win on Sunday’s Circuit of the Americas, ending Marc Marquez’s winning streak in Texas.
Marquez was aiming for his seventh consecutive premier class win at COTA, but fell off the lead on lap 12 of the ninth round of the 20-lap event and opened the door for Rins to jump.
After a 3.5 second lead over Valentino Rossi, Marquez’s sudden exit rocked the top of the ladder, and it was Rins who eventually capitalized in the closing stages.
The Team Suzuki Ecstar driver overtook Rossi at Turn 17 with four to go and assumed he would never give up the lead after Rossi’s planned counterattack at Turn 12 pushed the nine-time champion too far with three laps to go.
From there, Rins drove home to claim Suzuki’s first MotoGP victory since the 2016 British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit, a race won by current Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales.
Rossi stayed second, 0.462 seconds back, while Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller on worn soft tires finished third by a distance, his first podium since winning the Dutch TT 2016.
Andrea Dovizioso’s fourth place was enough for the championship lead thanks to Marquez’s fall and lack of points, while Franco Morbidelli finished fifth.
Danilo Petrucci, Fabio Quartararo, Pol Espargaro, Francesco Bagnaia and Takaaki Nakagami completed the top 10.
Marquez ‘Repsol Honda team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo, was also unable to finish Sunday’s race due to a mechanical defect.