ALEX RINS SPA LCR HONDA CASTROL HONDA MotoGP
Alex Rins flew to a surprise first win for Honda in the Americas Grand Prix after pole-man Francesco Bagnaia crashed out for the second straight GP.
Rins made a strong start to insert the nose of his RC213-V down the inside of Bagnaia, though was forced to settle in behind the factory Ducati pilot.
The LCR rider kept within close attendance to the rear of the Italian though across the opening stages of the contest held at the Circuit of the Americas, though Bagnaia looked to have things under control as the race inched towards mid-distance.
Disaster struck for the second time in as many grand prix’ for Bagnaia however as he lost the front of his Desmosedici into Turn 2, resulting in his second straight non-score as Rins took over the leadership.
Fabio Quartararo was left as Rins’ closest threat following the demise of Bagnaia, though the Yamaha racer later fell behind a charging Luca Marini as the VR46 Ducati rider chased a maiden premier class victory.
He was ultimately powerless to prevent Rins cruising to a sixth career success in the series though as he took the chequered flag 2.7 seconds adrift to secure a first ever full-length MotoGP race podium, Rins securing supremacy in only his third grand prix since switching from Suzuki to Honda machinery at the start of 2023.
Quartararo eventually completed the rostrum in third after falling away from the leading duo in the closing circulations, the Frenchman securing his and Yamaha’s first rostrum of the year, while Maverick Vinales recovered from another shocking getaway to claim fourth a few seconds further back.
Miguel Oliveira enjoyed a strong comeback event following his Portuguese GP injury to complete the top five for RNF Aprilia having got the better of Argentinean GP victor Marco Bezzecchi in the closing tours.
Johann Zarco was seventh on the sole remaining Pramac Ducati – team-mate Jorge Martin having lost the front of his bike at Turn 5 on the opening lap and taken out an innocent Alex Marquez in the process – while Franco Morbidelli secured a second-successive top ten finish on his Yamaha with eighth.
Fabio Di Gianantonio was ninth on his Gresini-run Ducati, while Augusto Fernandez bagged a maiden premier class top ten finish.
The attritional encounter saw only 13 riders take the chequered flag, with Michele Pirro and Jonas Folger the only other two pilots not to crash during the race as 13th placed Brad Binder re-mounted after dropping his KTM at Turn 15 late on.
His team-mate Jack Miller went down at Turn 7 at around a quarters-distance while running strongly in third, with the other Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro also going down early on at Turn 12.
The three remaining Honda’s – namely factory men Joan Mir and Stefan Bradl as well as LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami – also crashed out during the contest, as did the sister RNF Aprilia of Raul Fernandez.
Keyword: Rins cruises to shock COTA win after Bagnaia crashes