After a two-week break, imposed by the cancellation of the Argentine Grand Prix, MotoGP still travels towards the American continent, but with more precision towards Austin, Texas, where the Circuit of the Americas will host the third round of the season this weekend.
Inevitably, all eyes will be on Marc Marquez, because the up-and-down American circuit is one of his favorite circuits, as demonstrated by his six consecutive victories between 2013 and 2018, including his first ever in the premier class. If there is an ideal circuit to evaluate what his ambitions might be astride the Gresini Racing Ducati, it is certainly this. Without forgetting that the #93 will certainly want to make up for the bitter ending of the Portuguese GP and the contact with Pecco Bagnaia who ousted both of them with four laps to go.
The same obviously also applies to the reigning world champion, who dominated the Sprint last year in Texas, but then crashed in the long race when he seemed headed for a double. For the Piedmontese, therefore, the desire for revenge will be even greater. But Maverick Vinales and Aprilia will also want to try to make up for it because, after the triumph in the Sprint, they saw a second place thwarted by a gearbox failure with one lap to go.
The one who will arrive in Texas with a smile on the other hand is Jorge Martin, who thanks to the beautiful victory in Portimao has taken the lead in the world championship ranking, in which he leads with an 18 point margin over Brad Binder's KTM. Third then is Enea Bastianini, who after the second place in the Algarve returns to where two years ago she achieved one of the four victories of her season.
Then watch out for the Japanese bikes, because last year in Austin came Honda's only jolt in the last two years with the success of Alex Rins, who in the meantime has moved to the ranks of Yamaha, third 12 months ago with Fabio Quartararo. After his first podium in MotoGP, it's a safe bet that rookie Pedro Acosta will also want to try to be part of the game with his GasGas Tech3 KTM.
In short, the ingredients for a great weekend are all there and below you can find the complete programme, as well as the television and LIVE programming on Motorsport.com.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
MotoGP 2024: the times of the Grand Prix of the Americas
The MotoGP world championship once again bids farewell to MotoE, which will not participate in the overseas trip. The format of the Texan weekend will therefore be the one that has become traditional since the Sprints were introduced, but thanks to the Austin time zone the times will be a bit particular, with the MotoGP Sprint starting on Saturday when it is 10pm in Italy. Sunday instead the start of the long race will be at 9pm Italian time.
Friday 12 April
FP1 Moto3: 4pm-4.35pm
FP1 Moto2: 4.50pm-5.30pm
FP1 MotoGP: 5.45pm-6.30pm
FP2 Moto3: 8.15pm-8.50pm
FP2 Moto2: 9.05pm-9.45pm
FP2 MotoGP: 10pm-11pm
Saturday 13 April
FP3 Moto3: 3.40pm-4.10pm
FP3 Moto2: 4.25pm-4.55pm
P MotoGP: 5.10pm-5.40pm
MotoGP Qualifying: 5.50pm-6.30pm
Moto3 Qualifying: 7.50pm-8.30pm
Moto2 Qualifying: 8.45pm-9.25pm
Sprint MotoGP: 10pm
Sunday 14 April
MotoGP Warm-Up: 4.40pm-4.50pm
Moto3 race: 6pm
Moto2 race: 7.15pm
MotoGP race: 9pm
MotoGP 2024: how can I watch the Grand Prix of the Americas
Sky Sport MotoGP HD (Sky channel 208) and Now: complete live broadcast of all the weekend sessions and MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 races.
TV8 HD (channel 8 of digital terrestrial): live coverage of qualifying and the MotoGP Sprint on Saturday. Live coverage of the races of the three classes on Sunday.
MotoGP 2024: Motorsport.com's LIVE coverage of the American Grand Prix
Saturday 13 April
MotoGP Qualifying: from 5.20pm
Sprint MotoGP: from 9.30pm
Sunday 14 April
MotoGP race: from 8.30pm
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
MotoGP 2024: let's discover the Austin track
The Circuit of the Americas, located in Austin, Texas, currently represents the only stage of the MotoGP World Championship in the United States. COTA entered the league in the 2013 season and has remained on the calendar continuously since then, with the exception of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the longest tracks that drivers have to tackle and is characterized by straights, hairpin bends and strong changes in gradient.
| Length of the Austin circuit | 5.5km |
|
Width of the Austin Loop |
15 meters |
| The curves of the Austin circuit | 20 (9 on the right and 11 on the left) |
| Longest straight on the Austin circuit |
1,200 meters |
As one of the longest-distance circuits on the calendar, the races will be significantly affected, with fewer laps to complete. Thus, Saturday's MotoGP Sprint will be just 10 laps, while Sunday's long race will be 20 laps. On the same day, Moto3 will complete 14 laps of Austin, while Moto2 will complete 16 in total.
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