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MotoGP Americas GP: Vinales recovers from 11th to win, Marquez crashes from lead

Maverick Vinales took a first Sunday MotoGP win for Aprilia at the Americas Grand Prix after recovering from 11th, as Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead.

Going without a grand prix win since the start of the 2021 season prior to his acrimonious split with Yamaha, Vinales won the sprints in Portugal and Austin.

Despite being dropped to 11th from pole on the opening lap of Sunday’s 20-lap Americas GP, Vinales fought his way back to take victory by 1.728s to become the first rider in the modern MotoGP era to take grand prix victories for three different manufacturers.

Vinales beat Tech3 rookie sensation Pedro Acosta, celebrating his best MotoGP result, while Enea Bastianini denied championship leader Jorge Martin a podium with a late overtake.

Francesco Bagnaia was fifth after a tricky race, while seven-time COTA winner Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead on lap 11.

Acosta shot into the lead from second on the grid as poleman Vinales found himself dumped back to 11th in the Turn 1 melee.

An aggressive move for Martin to get up to third from sixth saw him force Bagnaia to sit up at Turn 1, nudging into Vinales and sending the Aprilia rider down the order.

Through the opening sequence of corners, Martin got himself into second behind Acosta and ahead of Bagnaia.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Martin made a move for the lead on Acosta into Turn 11 on lap two, but ran wide and let the Tech3 rider back past.

Behind, Marquez and Miller connected on the exit of Turn 11 as the Gresini rider attempted an overtake on the way into the corner for fourth.

Both survived the clash, but Marquez’s GP23 suffered wing damage to its left side. However, he moved ahead of the KTM at the final corner moments later.

Martin tried to take the lead from Acosta again on lap three at Turn 11, but ran wide again, before finally making a move stick on the fourth tour at Turn 7.

Marquez passed Bagnaia for third a corner later and took advantage of Acosta running wide at Turn 11 for second.

Vinales had worked his way up to seventh by the end of lap four as Martin led by just over three tenths from Marquez.

Marquez lined up a pass for the lead into Turn 20 on the fifth lap, but touched the Pramac Ducati’s rear wheel. Martin held the lead as Marquez dropped to fourth behind Bagnaia and Acosta.

Acosta took second from Bagnaia into Turn 1 at the start of lap seven, with Marquez passing the Ducati for third at Turn 8. Martin led by close to a second at this stage of the race, but Acosta and Marquez were able to bring him back into striking range come lap 10.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Acosta took the lead again at Turn 11 with a hard move, which opened the door for Marquez to outbrake the Pramac rider into Turn 12.

Marquez then carved past Acosta into Turn 1 on lap 11 to lead for the first time on a Ducati. But it would last just 10 more corners as the Gresini rider lost the front braking for Turn 11.

This released Acosta back into the lead, but the danger rider now was Vinales, who sat third after overtaking Bagnaia on lap nine for fourth.

Martin succumbed to Vinales’ advances at Turn 20 on lap 11, before the Aprilia rider eventually found a way through on Acosta on lap 13 after several failed attempts.

Setting the best lap of the race on lap 14, Vinales’ lead swelled above a second and he would come under minimal threat through to the chequered flag. Beating Acosta by 1.728s, Vinales is the first non-Ducati grand prix winner since Aprilia team-mate Aleix Espargaro won the Catalan GP.

Bastianini completed the podium behind Acosta and Vinales after overtaking Martin for third on the penultimate lap, while Bagnaia was fifth.

VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio was sixth from Espargaro, Marco Bezzecchi (VR46), KTM’s Brad Binder and Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Miguel Oliveira was 11th on the sister Trackhouse Aprilia, with Fabio Quartararo's sole Yamaha, 12th at the chequered flag after team-mate Alex Rins crashed out.

Miller faded dramatically to 13th after his early podium charge, with Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez and Gresini’s Alex Marquez – who crashed on lap 11 - securing the final points.

Luca Marini was the final finisher on the factory Honda, with all of his HRC stablemates dropping out. Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli also crashed out.

Martin’s championship lead has been cut to 21 points over Bastianini, with Vinales jumping up to third a further three points back.

MotoGP Americas Grand Prix - Race Results

   
1
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5
   
   
1
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2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 20

41'09.503

  160.7   25
2 Spain P. Acosta Tech 3 31 KTM 20

+1.728

41'11.231

1.728 160.6   20
3 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 20

+2.703

41'12.206

0.975 160.5   16
4 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 20

+4.690

41'14.193

1.987 160.4   13
5 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 20

+7.392

41'16.895

2.702 160.2   11
6 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49 Ducati 20

+9.980

41'19.483

2.588 160.0   10
7 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 20

+12.208

41'21.711

2.228 159.9   9
8 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 20

+13.343

41'22.846

1.135 159.8   8
9 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 20

+14.931

41'24.434

1.588 159.7   7
10 Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 20

+16.656

41'26.159

1.725 159.6   6
11 Portugal M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team 88 Aprilia 20

+18.542

41'28.045

1.886 159.5   5
12 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 20

+22.899

41'32.402

4.357 159.2   4
13 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 20

+24.011

41'33.514

1.112 159.1   3
14 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 20

+27.652

41'37.155

3.641 158.9   2
15 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 20

+32.855

41'42.358

5.203 158.6   1
16 Italy L. Marini Repsol Honda Team 10 Honda 20

+33.529

41'43.032

0.674 158.5    
dnf Spain M. Marquez Gresini Racing 93 Ducati 10

+10 Laps

20'36.524

10 Laps 160.5 Accident  
dnf Spain A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42 Yamaha 10

+10 Laps

20'48.178

11.654 159.0 Accident  
dnf Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 8

+12 Laps

16'40.803

2 Laps 158.6 Accident  
dnf Italy F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing 21 Ducati 7

+13 Laps

14'29.451

1 Lap 159.7 Accident  
dnf Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 6

+14 Laps

12'32.563

1 Lap 158.2 Accident  
dnf France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 6

+14 Laps

12'55.867

23.304 153.4 Retirement  

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