MOTOGP2016 - Circuit of Americas - Results and Highlights

The Race Results:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 43m 57.945s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 44m 4.052s
3. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 44m 8.892s
4. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 44m 16.367s
5. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 44m 18.656s
6. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 44m 26.906s
7. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 44m 30.057s
8. Michele Pirro ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 44m 30.702s
9. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 44m 32.537s
10. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 44m 38.156s
11. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 44m 43.368s
12. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 44m 45.072s
13. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 44m 45.371s
14. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 44m 49.135s
15. Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 45m 10.874s
16. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 45m 17.197s
17. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 45m 25.981s
Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) DNF
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) DNF
Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) DNF




Marc Marquez
Continues his perfect Austin record with a runaway victory over Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone. 

Jorge Lorenzo
Safely finished in second place, although he admitted it wouldn't be possible to be more competitive.

“I'm very happy to finish the race because today the conditions were very complicated and in the warm-up it was difficult to convince myself that I could be competitive enough to fight for the podium,” Lorenzo said.

“I did a great job thinking positive and trying to be convinced and start in a good way. The problem was that I couldn't stop the bike and that's why I made some mistakes in the first corner and in some hairpins to try and be in the first position.

“I hoped to be faster but today it was impossible and every time I was slower and slower, so today was not a day for the victory and I knew it from lap seven or eight. I just needed to finish the race and get these points,” he added. 

Iannone

“I'm very happy, I needed this podium and for us it is very important after the first two races because I had a very bad moment – I think one of the worst of my career because I have a lot of pressure from all people, so it's a very difficult moment,” he said.

“When we start this weekend we focused a lot on the practice and I also focused to ride the bike in the best way. We improved the bike practice by practice so this is very important and in all practice, we stayed in the top and I have a very good feeling with the bike and we improved.

“This situation is very difficult, also because I start from the third row, and in the first corner I touched with Dani [Pedrosa] and had contact with him and also at the second corner with Aleix Espargaro, so it was very difficult from the beginning. I try to stay safe but in any case this is a very good moment for us.”




Valentino Rossi
Fell early in the race, he mad a mistake and admitted it, some problems with the clutch of the motorcycle have been going on so Rossi said he had to open the throttle only at 50% on the straight, some technical challenges with the bike nothing to complaint about the tires though.

"My problem today is that I burned the clutch on the start. For some reason this year with the clutch we are a little bit more in trouble and already in Argentina had some problem. But this time I burned the clutch so I had a lot of problems in the first two laps because it slipped a lot and I had to open the throttle 50% on the straight,”

“The Michelin tyres have good performance, are good to ride and I like. The problem is you can't make a mistake.”



Andrea Dovizioso was taken out of a podium place for the second race in a row - this time by Dani Pedrosa, who lost control under braking.

Pedrosa
appoligizes to Dovizioso, both at the side of the track and once Dovizioso had returned to the Ducati pits.
“It's lucky I don't have the big wings because there the wings can [hurt] the rider and I'm moving to stop this soon. Because we just saw in Argentina what happened with the wing of Andrea [Iannone], cutting the on-board [camera] of Marc [Marquez].

“I know Dani for many years. Dani is not a rider who takes many risks normally,” Dovizioso said. “Everybody is on the limit. Mistakes can happen. But Dani is not a kamikaze, trying to overtake you every time on the brakes. When somebody makes a mistake and it creates a problem for another rider, it's bad. But it's different compared to Argentina.”



Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith fell at the same turn, just seconds apart. Both rejoined.

Ducati test rider Michele Pirro was again replacing the injured Danilo Petrucci - Iannone had a three-place grid penalty from Argentina, while Jack Miller withdrew due to a foot injury on Friday..

All and all an interesting race, but gladly no one got extreme injuries and the show in a way was amazing. Terrible to see that everyone complained about the Tarmac and how slippery it was in the American Circuit, so perhaps we would see more discussions about that subject very soon.