The World Champion Marquez has no rivals and remains the uncontested leader of the Grand Prix of the Americas. Viñales is 2nd and Iannone gets his first podium with Suzuki (3rd).
Despite a penalty that downgraded him to 4th position, Marc Marquez started favorite and didn’t disappoint the expectations: the Spanish rider immediately took control of the race and never let it go, crossing the finish line first with a solid advantage on all his opponents and winning for the sixth time in six Grand Prix of the Americas. Maverick Viñales is 2nd and Andrea Iannone is back on the podium after a long-lasting absence started in 2016 in Valencia. Valentino Rossi arrived 4th, Andrea Dovizioso 5th and Dani Pedrosa got a suffered 7th position, gaining important points despite his aching wrist.
Iannone did a super begin, immediately taking the lead. But it only took Marquez a few turns to be back on top of the group: the Suzuki rider didn’t give up and tried to fight him back, but the Catalan rider set up an amazing pace and took off. Not the best start for Viñales who had to work on his pace for a few rounds. He eventually managed to gain the 2nd position, leaving Iannone behind and Rossi 4th. We also witnessed a few falls, starting from Crutchlow (who was 5th when it happened) and then Syahrin and Rins: the latter gave us the chills as his GSX-RR stayed in the middle of Turn 12, but luckily all following riders managed to avoid it until the rider moved it out with the help of Race Officials. Abraham had to withdraw because of a violent hit during Qualifying that left him with an aching wrist.
This has been a solitary ride for Marc Marquez, who smoothly achieved his sixth victory in a row on the Austin track. Maverick Viñales remained 2nd behind him, together with Andrea Iannone who got a 3rd place and the first podium for Suzuki. Valentino Rossi confirmed his 4th place, while Andrea Dovizioso managed to conquer the 5th position, defeating Johann Zarco. A heroic 7th place for Dani Pedrosa, just one week after his surgery to fix a broken wrist in Argentina. The battle among Tito Rabat, Jack Miller and Aleix Espargaro ended only on the last straight line, with the Spanish rider winning over his brand-mate and the Aprilia rider. Crutchlow eventually got a penalty: he started again after falling but had 2.7 seconds added to his final time for cutting Turn 4.
The ranking
