AUSTIN, — Alex Rins won the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin after MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia crashed while leading from pole position.
The Spaniard’s surprise victory in Texas was a first for his Honda team since Britain’s Cal Crutchlow in Argentina in 2018.
Italian Luca Marini, MotoGP great Valentino Rossi’s half-brother, was second for the Ducati team and France’s 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo completed the podium on a Yamaha.
Marco Bezzecchi finished sixth to stretch his championship lead to 11 points over fellow Italian Bagnaia after three rounds.
It was also Rins’ second MotoGP success in Texas after he won the race for Suzuki in 2019 when Marquez fell from the lead.
Fabio Quartararo secured his first rostrum finish of 2023 in third, crossing the line 1.5s further on the Monster Energy Yamaha.
Bagnaia led Rins for the first seven laps until his race came to an abrupt halt, with the factory Ducati rider sliding from his machine early on entry into Turn 2.
The Italian was coming under pressure from Rins when he went down.
In a race of attrition at Round 3 of the championship at the Circuit of the Americas, there were only 13 finishers, with a host of riders finding themselves in the gravel.
Australia’s Jack Miller was among the fallers after he crashed out of third on lap seven.
Miller, ninth in the Sprint, made a superb start from the fourth row on the Red Bull and was keeping Bagnaia and Rins in his sights when he slid off.
Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez’s race was over before it started when he was wiped out by Jorge Martin on the first lap.
Martin, who claimed a heroic third in the Sprint race from 12th on the grid, lost the front of his machine and his Pramac Ducati collected the luckless Marquez.
It was the culmination of a weekend for Marquez, who also failed to finish the Sprint race when he crashed moments after he was sick inside his helmet.
Marini was comfortable in second as he opened a gap over Quartararo by the end of lap 17, while Rins continued to manage the race from the front, maintaining a cushion of around two seconds.
Rins was in control by 2.8s going into the 20th and final lap and he held it together to seal a memorable triumph for Lucio Cecchinello’s satellite Honda team.
Marini closed out the runner-up spot ahead of Quartararo, with Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Vinales enjoying a strong end to the race in fourth.
Miguel Oliveira, competing in his first race weekend since the season-opener in Portugal – where he was taken out by Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez – took the chequered flag in a solid fifth on the Aprilia.
Seven-time winner Marquez remained sidelined as a result of a right hand injury he sustained in the incident, but is targeting a return in Round 4 at Jerez in Spain at the end of April.
