AUSTIN, Texas – Six-times world champion Marc Marquez led from start to finish to secure a seventh win at the Grand Prix of the Americas as Fabio Quartararo finished in second to strengthen his grip on the MotoGP world championship race.
Repsol Honda’s Marquez, who was third on the grid, made an impressive start as he charged through the first turn to grab the lead ahead of pole sitter Francesco Bagnaia and Quartararo, eventually opening a gap of more than four seconds with five laps to go.
Bagnaia struggled after his poor opening and slipped down to sixth before going past a fading Jorge Martin of Pramac Ducati with three laps remaining to salvage third place. Alex Rins of Suzuki Ecstar came fourth.
Quartararo leads Bagnaia by 52 points with three rounds to go, Reuters reported.
Marquez celebrated winning the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas by carrying a flag on the cooldown lap saluting late American champion Nicky Hayden.
“The plan exactly was like I did the race,” Marquez said.
“Start well, be first in the first corner. And then when the tires started to drop a little bit, start to push. That’s exactly what I did, and then I saw I increased the gap and was riding comfortable.”
“It’s true that in the last few laps I was feeling tired and it was difficult to even keep my concentration, but Fabio [Quartararo] was still far away and my instincts told me that he would also slow down at the end because he is fighting for the title.
Enea Bastianini finished sixth, followed by Joan Mir, Jack Miller, Brand Binder and Pol Espargaro to round out the top 10. Mir and Miller exchanged words after contact on the last lap.
Quartararo increased his championship points lead to 52 over Bagnaia, putting the Frenchman in position to clinch the title in the next race.
In the Moto2 race, American rookie Cameron Beaubier finished a career-best fifth before his home crowd.
