Enea Bastianini (Gresini-Ducati) has claimed his second win of the season in the fourth MotoGP race of 2022. The Italian won on the Circuit of The Americas in Texas (USA) and took over the championship lead again. Alex Rins (Suzuki) snatched second place from Jack Miller (Ducati) on the final lap.
“Fantastic day,” said Bastianini. “The race was pretty tough. Miller set a really strong pace at the beginning. Later, when Rins came closer and tried to pass me a couple of times, I attacked.”
“In the end I was pushing like crazy. Unbelievable to win here in America! The track is fantastic, the people are fantastic. Now it’s time to eat some hamburgers!”
Marc Marquez can’t get away from the starting line
At the start of the 20-lap race, Ducati maintained the top four places. Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) attacked and finished fifth. Marc Márquez (Honda) had a really bad start, falling back to the end of the field.
At the end of lap one, Miller was leading ahead of Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati), Bastianini, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), Quartararo, Johann Zarco (Pramac-Ducati), Suzuki duo Joan Mir and Rins, and the Espargaro brothers. Marc Márquez finished the first lap in 18th place.
In the first third of the race nobody was able to break away, the leading group stayed together. The Suzuki duo was on the rise, relegating Quartararo to eighth. Rins also attacked Ducati, passing Bagnaia for fifth.
Further back, Marc Márquez was catching up. After seven laps he grabbed his teammate Pol Espargaro and was already tenth. Marc Márquez set the same pace as Miller at the front.
Alex Rins attacks the Ducati armada
Rins in particular attacked in the top group. After passing Bagnaia he also found a way past Zarco and was fourth again. And Rins also attacked Bastianini, but on the long back straight Ducati was faster than Suzuki.
On lap 12, Bastianini overtook Martin and Rins also passed Martin. So the order was: Miller, Bastianini, Rins, Martin, Bagnaia, Mir and Zarco. Quartararo and Marc Márquez followed directly behind.
Marc Márquez continued to catch up. On lap 14 he passed Quartararo and was already seventh. At the front, the leading group broke up in two. Miller led ahead of Bastianini and Rins. Then there was a small gap to the quartet Mir, Bagnaia, Martin and Marc Márquez.
Enea Bastianini makes the crucial maneuvers
At the beginning of the last quarter of the race, the duel for victory was on. Bastianini put pressure on Miller while Rins couldn’t quite keep up. Five laps before the end of the race, Bastianini braked past Miller at the end of the long back straight and was in front for the first time.
That was the decision. “La Bestia” drove away from his brand colleague and towards his second win of the season. The Italian made no mistake in the final meters and secured the first Ducati victory at the Circuit of The Americas.
Alex Rins grabs second place from Jack Miller
It remained exciting until the end in the duel for second place, because Rins came closer and closer to Miller and attacked. On the final lap, Rins overtook at Turn 19 to finish second. “I feel really, really good,” said the Suzuki driver.
“I don’t know why I was so quick in the first sector today. But that helped me to make up for my acceleration disadvantage a bit. The fight with Jack at the end was very clean and really good.”
Third place was Miller’s first podium of the year. “I have mixed feelings,” sighs the Australian. “On the one hand, I had a fantastic race and I don’t have to blame myself. I did my best. Towards the end, however, Enea passed me.”
“I hadn’t made a mistake in the entire race, but after he passed me I misbraked a couple of times. That lost a lot of time and Alex got closer. Then on the last lap I didn’t have a chance anymore.”
Marc Márquez versus Fabio Quartararo duel
Mir finished fourth ahead of Bagnaia. Behind them, a close duel raged between Marc Márquez and Quartararo for sixth place. Eventually, the Honda rider got the upper hand. The Pramac duo of Martin and Zarco dropped to eighth and ninth in the second half of the race.
They were followed by the Aprilia duo of Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro. Brad Binder collected world championship points for KTM in twelfth place. Pol Espargaro, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR-Honda) and Andrea Dovizioso (RNF-Yamaha) finished 13th to 15th.
With this result, Bastianini is now five points ahead of Rins in the World Championship standings. Aleix Espargaro dropped back to third place. Mir is fourth and defending champion Quartararo is 17 points behind in fifth after four races.
The next Grand Prix will take place on April 24th in Portimao (Portugal).