Alex Rins has sealed his first MotoGP victory at the 2019 Americas MotoGP after a tough battle with Valentino Rossi, who finished second. Jack Miller closed the podium at the third round of the calendar.
Marc Márquez, the great favourite after his triumph at the 2019 Argentinian Grand Prix, fell off his bike when he was escaping solo at the Texan race. A disastrous day for the Repsol Honda team, with their other rider, Jorge Lorenzo, also retiring after a fault in his machine.
The lights go off and Marquez escapes
Pilots kept their starting position after a very clean exit with Marquez at the front of the pack at the 2019 Americas MotoGP. Valentino Rossi, Cal Crutchlow, Jack Miller were behind the Spanish champion in that order. Maverick Viñales, in fifth, soon lost his position to Alex Rins and fell back to seventh place.
In a similar manoeuvre, Pol Espargaro passed Andrea Dovizioso, who was pushed back to the eighth position. Viñales and Mir received a drive-through penalty in lap four for having moved improperly when the lights went out.
Marquez kept on opening the gap between him and Rossi after taking the lead from the start. In just a couple of laps, his advantage already amounted to a whole second. By the fifth lap he was 1,6 seconds away, and only two laps after that he had increased his distance to 3,334. No one could keep up with his implacable pace. Cal Crutchlow fell over on lap six and Aleix Espargaro was retiring a lap after that at the 2019 Americas MotoGP.
Marc is out of the game and Rossi takes the lead
Just when Marquez‘s seventh triumph at the at the 2019 Americas MotoGP seemed adone deal, the unexpected happened. On lap 9, the Honda #93 fell over while negotiating turn 12. The Spaniard tried to lift his bike but, in the end, he was unable to rejoin the race. Rossi inherited the lead followed by Miller and Rins.
In an attempt to get rid of his pursuers, the Italian champion managed to extend his advantage by 0.3 seconds. Three turns after that came the second blow for Repsol Honda when Jorge Lorenzo was forced to withdraw after the chain came off his bike, precisely at the same spot where Marquez had gone to the ground at the 2019 Americas MotoGP.
Rossi vs Rins
From that moment on, a vibrant battle broke out for the first position between Rossi and Rins. Both pilots were glued to each other, fighting for every millimetre of asphalt until the pilot from Barcelona took over the Italian veteran on turn 17. Colossal combat between two brave and skilful drivers who did not shy away from the close contes at the 2019 Americas MotoGPt.
The most successful driver of all times did not give up easily but the Spaniard didn’t yield his barely half a second advantage. An expectant Miller was behind in third, and a sensational Dovizioso one position below in fourth.
Rins’ first MotoGP victory
In the end, the Spaniard from Suzuki was first to cross the finish line achieving the first MotoGP victory of his career and incidentally becoming the first ever driver to win in all three categories at the 2019 Americas MotoGP.
After their remarkable battle, Rossi arrived 0.432 seconds later and had to settle for second place. Miller closed the podium. Dovi came in fourth all the way up from his initial thirteenth starting position and Morbidelli was fifth.
‘2019 Americas MotoGP’ Images: MotoGP, Suzuki & Repsol Honda
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