MotoGP™: Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) triumphant in a terrific Texas encounter.

Bastianini then got the better Bagnaia for P3 on Lap 1 as Martin lunged for the lead at the penultimate corner. Miller instantly retaliated at the final corner though and it was the Australian who held the race lead baton on Lap 2. It was a Ducati 1-2-3-4-5, Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) scrapping away with Pecco for P4, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) and Team Suzuki Ecstar duo – Rins and Joan Mir – P6, P7 and P8 behind the Desmosedici quintet.

On Lap 5, Marc Marquez had climbed his way up to P13. Further up the road, Rins pounced on Pecco and the Ducati stranglehold had been breached on Lap 6. Lap 7 saw Marc Marquez pass teammate Pol Espargaro at Turn 12 and in doing so, Marquez was inside the top 10 – 0.6s off Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) in P8 and just five seconds off the lead.

Rins was an absolute demon on brakes into Turn 11 and the Spaniard picked off Zarco in Lap 9. Crucially, the Suzuki man held the Frenchman at bay coming out of Turn 12 as Rins latched himself onto the coattails of third place Bastianini. Rins dived up the inside of the Italian at Turn 11 on the next lap, but Bastianini was able to power back past on his GP21 rocket ship. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez had picked off Aleix Espargaro and had Quartararo next on his list, as the number 93 set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 11 of 20.

Now, how would Miller respond? Bastianini eked out about three tenths and with three laps to go, the gap was half a second. Rins was now 0.7s behind Miller, Mir was a further second down the road, Bagnaia 0.8s off Mir, as Marquez and Quartararo shoved Martin down to P8.

On Lap 18 of 20, Bastianini stretched his lead to one second and that famous late-race pace he possesses was yet again soaring to the surface. Miller’s main job now was to keep Rins at bay. Starting the final lap, Bastianini had 1.6s in his pocket but Miller had just 0.3s to Rins. Mir was 1.3s off the podium scrap, Bagnaia was a lonely P5 with Marc Marquez and Quartararo fighting tooth and nail for P6.

Turn 11, Rins’ favourite corner, saw the Suzuki man get by. But Miller got his Ducati hooked up on the straight and the Aussie was back into P2. Miller was defending well but Rins got a great run out of Turn 18, and at Turn 19, Rins was up the inside. Rins got it stopped and turned to perfection, no way back for Miller, as Bastianini rounded the final corner to win his second race of the season and claim COTA’s converted crown. Rins produced a stunner to pip Miller, the latter enjoying his first rostrum of the season.

Mir’s podium attack didn’t quite come to fruition in the end but it’s a second consecutive P4 for the 2020 World Champion, as Bagnaia finishes P5 from the front row. Marc Marquez produced a truly stunning fightback after a terrible start to claim P6, but it’s a case of what could have been for Marquez and Honda in Texas. Quartararo battled as hard as anyone to pick up P7, it’s not the result he would have been after but with the next best Yamaha down in P15, you have to feel El Diablo is getting the very best out of his package.

Martin slipped to P8 as the Pramac duo struggled in the second half of the race, with Zarco P9. Maverick Viñales got the better of Aprilia Racing teammate Aleix Espargaro as the Aprilias pick up P10 and P11 from P13 and P14 on the grid, as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) comes home in P12 on a difficult weekend for KTM. A fatigued Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) saw the chequered flag in P13, just ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) crossed the line in P15 but was demoted one place, handing Andrea Dovizioso (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team) the final point.

Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) crashed out, the former headed to the medical centre for a check-up.

What a way to celebrate 500 GPs at the Circuit of The Americas. Bastianini takes charge of the 2022 title race as we now head to the all-important European leg of the season – Portimao’s rollercoaster is up next.

Top 10:
1. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™)
2. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 2.058
3. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 2.312
4. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 3.975
5. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 6.045
6. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 6.617
7. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 6.760
8. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 8.441
9. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 12.735
10. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) + 12.642.

Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas

MotoGP™ RAC Classification 2022

1	25	23 Enea Bastianini	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	159.8	41’23.1110
2	20	42 Alex Rins	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	159.7	+2.058
3	16	43 Jack Miller	AU	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	159.7	+2.312
4	13	36 Joan Mir	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	159.5	+3.975
5	11	63 Francesco Bagnaia	IT	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	159.4	+6.045
6	10	93 Marc Marquez	ES	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	159.4	+6.617
7	9	20 Fabio Quartararo	FR	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	159.4	+6.76
8	8	89 Jorge Martin	ES	Pramac Racing	Ducati	159.3	+8.441
9	7	5 Johann Zarco	FR	Pramac Racing	Ducati	159	+12.375
10	6	12 Maverick Viñales	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	159	+12.642
11	5	41 Aleix Espargaro	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	159	+12.947
12	4	33 Brad Binder	ZA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	158.9	+13.376
13	3	44 Pol Espargaro	ES	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	158.7	+17.961
14	2	30 Takaaki Nakagami	JP	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	158.6	+18.77
15	1	4 Andrea Dovizioso	IT	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	157.9	+29.319
16		21 Franco Morbidelli	IT	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	158	+29.129
17		10 Luca Marini	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	157.9	+29.63
18		88 Miguel Oliveira	PT	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	157.8	+32.002
19		25 Raul Fernandez	ES	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	157.5	+37.062
20		87 Remy Gardner	AU	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	157.1	+42.442
21		49 Fabio Di Giannantonio	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	157.1	+42.887
22		40 Darryn Binder	ZA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	153.5	+102.171

Non-classified riders

		72 Marco Bezzecchi	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	137.1	2 Laps
		73 Alex Marquez	ES	LCR Honda Castrol	Honda	157.6	5 Laps

MotoGP™ Championship 2022

1	23 Enea Bastianini	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	61
2	42 Alex Rins	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	56
3	41 Aleix Espargaro	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	50
4	36 Joan Mir	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	46
5	20 Fabio Quartararo	FR	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	44
6	33 Brad Binder	ZA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	42
7	43 Jack Miller	AU	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	31
8	5 Johann Zarco	FR	Pramac Racing	Ducati	31
9	88 Miguel Oliveira	PT	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	28
10	89 Jorge Martin	ES	Pramac Racing	Ducati	28
11	44 Pol Espargaro	ES	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	23
12	63 Francesco Bagnaia	IT	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	23
13	93 Marc Marquez	ES	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	21
14	12 Maverick Viñales	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	19
15	21 Franco Morbidelli	IT	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	14
16	30 Takaaki Nakagami	JP	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	12
17	10 Luca Marini	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	10
18	72 Marco Bezzecchi	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	7
19	40 Darryn Binder	ZA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	6
20	73 Alex Marquez	ES	LCR Honda Castrol	Honda	4
21	4 Andrea Dovizioso	IT	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	3
22	87 Remy Gardner	AU	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1
23	25 Raul Fernandez	ES	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	0
24	49 Fabio Di Giannantonio	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	0
25	6 Stefan Bradl	DE	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	0