Jack Miller held off the challenge of Romano Fenati and Efren Vazquez to clinch back-to-back victories at the start of the 2014 Moto3 season. The Australian led every lap at the Circuit of the Americas but his success was nowhere near as straightforward as that may suggest with Fenati and Vazquez pushing him all the way to the finish line.
Miller took full advantage of pole position to reach the summit of the uphill start/finish straight in the lead while Vazquez joined him in an early breakaway. The Estrella Galicia Hondas of Alex Marquez and Alex Rins were detached in the opening laps but led by Marquez the pair hauled themselves back into contention, bringing Fenati along with them.
On the long drag race towards turn twelve, Miller’s lead constantly came under threat but on a regular basis, the Australian was superior on the brakes to ensure his KTM remained in front. His prowess on the brakes proved crucial on the last lap as Vazquez breezed past, only to see the Red Bull Ajo KTM cruise back past when they arrived at the left hander. Not only was Efren powerless to stop Miller passing him, but Fenati also left his braking later to dive around the outside, snatching second.
Marquez kept a watching brief in fourth but for the second race in succession, the Spaniard undid all his hard work on the final lap, touching the white line at turn nineteen and sliding out of the Grand Prix. His loss was Alex Rins’ gain with the second Estrella Galicia rider inheriting fourth with Jakub Kornfeil chasing him across the line in fifth.
Alexis Masbou rounded out the top six ahead of Francesco Bagnaia with Danny Kent and John McPhee fighting their way to the front of a four-man fight for eighth. Kent claimed eighth ahead of his fellow Briton with Karel Hanika and Juanfran Guevara being edged out into tenth and eleventh.
