MotoGP

Marquez Back in Title Contention with COTA Win

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Marc Marquez - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda

Marc Marquez claimed his fifth victory out of five at the Circuit of the Americas to repair the early damage to his championship campaign. The Spaniard took a comfortable win ahead of Valentino Rossi who now leads the title chase after double-winner Maverick Vinales dramatically crashed out of fourth spot on the second lap.

Free practice form seemed to suggest the race would provide the Marquez-Vinales head-to-head many have been waiting for but both lost ground off the start line, Marquez losing the lead to his team-mate Dani Pedrosa while Vinales fell to fourth behind Rossi. Maverick wouldn’t make any progress from there though after losing the front of his YZR-M1 at turn eighteen.

Rossi remained under pressure from a Yamaha rider in the fight for third though with Johann Zarco closing in on the Tech 3 machine. The Moto2 champion looked to take advantage of an error from The Doctor on lap seven but the move sent Rossi across the tarmac run-off at turn three. Both riders continued without issues but the nine-time champion was later handed a time penalty of 0.3s for seemingly gaining an advantage.

Up ahead, Marquez was biding his time behind Pedrosa before the move finally came on lap nine, Marc slicing past his team-mate into turn seven. Although Dani briefly threatened a counter attack, his attention soon shifted to the closing Rossi who took advantage of a worn medium front Michelin on the no.26 to snatch second three laps from home. With Pedrosa running out of tyre, Rossi was comfortably able to build enough of a gap to render his time penalty academic, securing second place and the championship lead.

Zarco ultimately surrendered fourth to Cal Crutchlow while Andrea Dovizioso completed the top six on the first factory Ducati. Andrea Iannone came on strong in the second half of the race to grab seventh ahead of Danilo Petrucci and Jorge Lorenzo while Jack Miller claimed another top-ten result for Marc VDS.

 

2017 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas: Race Result

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