After a blistering pole position in yesterday's Qualifying, Marc Marquez went on to take the victory making it 5 out of 5 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. "The Doctor" rode an incredible race to finish the race in second position, potentially leading the World Championship points table as teammate Viñales crashed out in early stage. Dani Pedrosa pulled a rabbit out of his helmet, ended the race in P3 after an incredible start.
As the lights went off at the COTA, Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa made a great start to take the hole shot into the turn 1, followed by teammate Marquez. The two factory Honda riders were shadowed by Valentino Rossi right from the turn 1. Jorge Lorenzo also had a good start off the line and overtook Maverick Viñales, soon after Johann Zarco got into attack. Meanwhile disaster struck Maverick Viñales, as the Championship leader lost his front and slid into the tarmac at turn 18 taking 0 points for the first time in 2017.
Cal Crutchlow soon joined Johann Zarco at P5 eventually trying to make an overtake, while Andrea Iannone tried to grow his aggression over Lorenzo for a P6. Later on Johann Zarco created a zealous incident with Valentino Rossi, trying to get better of the latter. That made Rossi forcibly go out of the track, which at the end gave him a small advantage by closing the gap at front. Though the mistake was still at Zarco's end Race Direction penalized Rossi with a 0.3 second penalty.
With half way through the race, it was time for Marquez to get at the front. Marquez started pulling off at the front making up 0.5 to 1 second each lap. Dani Pedrosa started dropping off soon, due to some issues with the front tyre. With 3 laps to go "The Doctor" passed Dani Pedrosa, only to pull away for a 2 second odd advantage and zeroing out the 0.3 second penalty making any serious damage. Cal Crutchlow meanwhile passed Zarco for a P4 to become the top Satellite rider. Johann Zarco was followed by Andrea Dovizioso at P6, who was the top Ducati rider.
The top 10 of the table were completed by Andrea Iannone, Danilo Petrucci, Jorge Lorenzo and Jack Miller respectively. The Tech3 Yamaha rookie Jonas Folger came home at P11, followed by Scott Redding and Tito Rabat. Hector Barbera and Alvaro Bautista drew the last blood, as they finished at point scoring positions.
With Valentino Rossi leading the World Championship, the grid now moves on to Europe with the next race scheduled at Circuito de Jerez in Spain on the 7th of May. Until then stay tuned to BikesMedia for further updates on the 2017 MotoGP World Championship.
By: Aravind Rb
As the lights went off at the COTA, Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa made a great start to take the hole shot into the turn 1, followed by teammate Marquez. The two factory Honda riders were shadowed by Valentino Rossi right from the turn 1. Jorge Lorenzo also had a good start off the line and overtook Maverick Viñales, soon after Johann Zarco got into attack. Meanwhile disaster struck Maverick Viñales, as the Championship leader lost his front and slid into the tarmac at turn 18 taking 0 points for the first time in 2017.Cal Crutchlow soon joined Johann Zarco at P5 eventually trying to make an overtake, while Andrea Iannone tried to grow his aggression over Lorenzo for a P6. Later on Johann Zarco created a zealous incident with Valentino Rossi, trying to get better of the latter. That made Rossi forcibly go out of the track, which at the end gave him a small advantage by closing the gap at front. Though the mistake was still at Zarco's end Race Direction penalized Rossi with a 0.3 second penalty.
With half way through the race, it was time for Marquez to get at the front. Marquez started pulling off at the front making up 0.5 to 1 second each lap. Dani Pedrosa started dropping off soon, due to some issues with the front tyre. With 3 laps to go "The Doctor" passed Dani Pedrosa, only to pull away for a 2 second odd advantage and zeroing out the 0.3 second penalty making any serious damage. Cal Crutchlow meanwhile passed Zarco for a P4 to become the top Satellite rider. Johann Zarco was followed by Andrea Dovizioso at P6, who was the top Ducati rider.
The top 10 of the table were completed by Andrea Iannone, Danilo Petrucci, Jorge Lorenzo and Jack Miller respectively. The Tech3 Yamaha rookie Jonas Folger came home at P11, followed by Scott Redding and Tito Rabat. Hector Barbera and Alvaro Bautista drew the last blood, as they finished at point scoring positions.
With Valentino Rossi leading the World Championship, the grid now moves on to Europe with the next race scheduled at Circuito de Jerez in Spain on the 7th of May. Until then stay tuned to BikesMedia for further updates on the 2017 MotoGP World Championship.By: Aravind Rb