The Austin Grand Prix gave us a great show and especially the Sheriff’s return to the city, given that Marc Marquez’s triumph at COTA cannot be defined differently. The Spanish rider achieved his second victory of the season, after the Sachsenring, and was able to trim over four seconds from Fabio Quartararo who, according to our Carlo Pernat, can be defined as a sort of second winner of the race. With a second place in front of Bagnaia, Fabio has consolidated his leadership in the World Championship to such an extent that he can almost sit back and relax during the three remaining stages of this championship.
As always, our Pernat commented for us on what happened on the track in front of a nice bottle of Prosecco DOC. Here’s what he had to say:
“What about the Texas Grand Prix? There were two winners and one loser. The first winner is Marc Marquez, who won on a track he likes, by giving everyone four seconds. I wonder how many they would’ve been if they were in shape. He’s on a comeback and will always be the man to beat. Today he demonstrated that he’s still a prodigy. The other winner is Quartararo. His second place is worth gold. 53 points are too many with three races to go for Bagnaia. He could become champion at Misano. The loser is obviously Bagnaia, even if it’s wrong to define someone who gets on the podium as defeated. It wasn’t a great weekend. He figured out how to interpret the track only in the Q2. He found a valuable podium because the math doesn’t condemn him, but that’s not good enough.
Bastianini is also another Grand Prix winner. He started 16th and finished 6th. In the last few races, he’s reaced incredible results and will be another weapon in the Ducati arsenal next season, while Miller is disappointing both Ducati and the fans a bit. I don’t think he’s feeling Bagnaia’s pressure. That’s not something that happens to Australians, but everyone expected more from him.
I was also pleased to see Dovizioso grow. I see he’s psyched up, and he’s working on tailoring the bike to himself for the future. He wants it, and I respect his decision. I think he can do great things with the factory bike next year. It’s very disappointing to see Petrucci and Rossi racing like this. Both seemed out of sorts.”