Francesco Bagnaia triumphs for Ducati in a chaotic Americas Grand Prix after six-time MotoGP world champ Marquez slid out whereas main the race.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia gained a chaotic Americas Grand Prix forward of Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez after chief Marc Marquez crashed midway via the race to lose for the primary time this season.
Marquez had clinched pole place in qualifying in addition to a 3rd straight dash victory on Saturday, however after a primary crash on the crimson Ducati, the six-time MotoGP champion opted to retire attributable to intensive harm on his bike in Sunday’s most important race.
Though Bagnaia took the chequered flag to maneuver as much as 75 factors, Alex Marquez will depart Austin with the larger smile as ending second moved him to the highest of the MotoGP riders’ championship on 87 factors, one level forward of his elder brother Marc.
Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 Racing tried to catch as much as Alex however ran out of laps as he completed third to present Ducati one other clear sweep of the rostrum.
“I’m tremendous glad, I’m already with out [my] voice. I screamed out loud,” Bagnaia mentioned after he had a celebratory sizzling canine within the paddock.
“What a implausible feeling to be again on the highest step of the rostrum after such a tough interval.”
Even earlier than the race started, there was chaos when the solar briefly got here out, and riders who had opted for moist tyres all of a sudden sprinted again to the pits to swap their bikes, choosing slicks on a drying monitor, resulting in a crimson flag.
When the 19-lap race ultimately obtained below manner, Marc Marquez had an ideal launch off the road, main his brother and Bagnaia earlier than he peeled away and established a lead of greater than a second by the tip of the opening lap.
Bagnaia had been ending behind the Marquez brothers in earlier races and sprints, and the Italian was decided to complete increased, utilizing Alex’s slipstream to overhaul the Gresini rider and take second place on lap 4.
Marquez crashes
Marc Marquez appeared to be in cruise management as he set a race lap document however the Spaniard all of a sudden slid off the monitor on lap 9, seeing his hopes of a record-extending eighth victory on the Circuit of the Americas go up in smoke.
Behind him, Bagnaia’s eyes lit up and the double world champion grabbed the chance to shut the hole to his teammate within the championship, extending his lead over Alex because the race wore on.
Marc tried to experience on with no foot peg and a display screen however lower than 5 laps later, he gave up and nursed his bike again into the pits to retire.
Bagnaia ultimately gained with a two-second lead over Alex, who had no drawback ending second for a 3rd straight race.
“Now we’re main the championship, one thing that’s actually nice. We’re Mr Seconds, however [being] Mr Seconds additionally pays off,” Alex mentioned with a smile.
For Di Giannantonio, it was the primary podium since 2023 in Qatar, the place the following spherical will likely be held.
“I’m simply speechless, drained… Actually, I would like like 200 beers this night time to recuperate,” the Italian mentioned.
“For certain we obtained a bit present from Marc. However hey, that’s racing.”
His teammate Franco Morbidelli and Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller accomplished the highest 5.
