Pecco Bagnaia was the only protagonist on Saturday at the Las Américas circuit. In the morning he achieved a stratospheric pole, with an absolute record of the circuit and making it very clear that he was the new sheriff of Austin, in the absence of Marc Márquez. So when the grid for the sprint race was lined up, the Italian was the number one favourite, and he made good predictions. Only the stubbornness of Álex Rins on the first lap, coming to lead during some corners, seemed to question a victory that seemed already written in Italian. In fact, before the end of the first lap, the MotoGP champion had already recovered the first position and did not let go until the end.
Bagnaia won with great ease, leading by two and a half seconds (and loosely) in just ten laps that the sprint lasted, and sent a warning to sailors ahead of the long race on Sunday. Under normal conditions he has no rival. The only mole that left him this Saturday is that he did not recover the lead by a single point, and that is that the sixth place of his compatriot Marco Bezzecchi allowed him to continue at the head of the MotoGP classification for one more day.
The spectacle to which the premier class sprint has accustomed us moved this time to the fight for the podium. Two Ducati, those of Jorge Martín and Álex Márquez, against the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaró and the Honda of Álex Rins. Fabio Quartararo fell very early in this battle, crashing on the fourth lap.
It was hotter than it had been all weekend, with over 30 degrees in the air and 45 on the track. Which made the track very delicate. And added to the Texan layout itself, full of very pronounced braking, it caused many trips off the track and the occasional scare on the bike. In one of those, Álex Márquez could not control his Ducati and crashed with four laps to go.
Rins was able to open up a gap at the end to secure a valuable second place. His first podium with the Honda at a circuit that he is really good at and where he had already won in the past in all three categories. It will be very difficult for him to repeat in the feature race on Sunday, but a priori he is consolidated with Bagnaia’s main rival.
From behind, the battle for the last step of the podium was not settled until the last corner of the last lap. Espargaró, who was behind, tried to gain the position from Martín, but the man from Madrid opened the door and the Catalan went long. A very valuable podium also for Martín, who arrived at this circuit with a fever and who has been treated with antibiotics throughout the weekend. “He couldn’t breathe when he had only gone three laps”, commented the Ducati rider who was confident that in Sunday’s race he could be recovered. It better be, because they will be twice as many laps.
Masià’s Pole and Acosta’s front row
The grids of the small categories were also formed in which Jaume Masià achieved pole position in Moto3. A pole that allows him to dream of repeating the victory of 2022 on this circuit in Las Americas. And a pole that he had not achieved since 2021… also on the Texan circuit. The Valencian overtook the favorite of the weekend, Ayumu Sasaski, who had already been the fastest on Friday, and Iván Ortolá will start third. From the second row, the category leader, Dani Holgado, will try to maintain his position in the standings.
And in Moto2, Pedro Acosta was already savoring a pole position until Celestino Vietti snatched it from him on the horn. The Italian improved the time of the Tiburón de Mazarrón by barely 20 thousandths when the stopwatch was already at zero. In any case, Acosta has been in the lead all weekend and is the main favorite on a grid where there will be a lot of Spanish riders on the front rows: Alonso López will start 5th, Arón Canet 7th, Manu González 9th and Jeremy Alcoba 10th.
#Bagnaia #plays #Márquez #Austin #sprint