After second place in the sprint race, Alex Rins was able to improve again in the main race in Austin and give Honda its first win since Misano 2021. The LCR Honda rider shot clean in a crash-prone race that also included Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and was rewarded.
It is Rins’ first win since joining LCR-Honda. The last time the team was victorious was with Cal Crutchlow in Argentina 2018. Rins shared the Austin podium with Luca Marini (VR46-Ducati) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha).
The 20-lap race started in dry but slightly cooler conditions than Saturday’s sprint. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) won this ahead of Alex Rins (LCR-Honda) and Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati). While the latter started from twelfth place, Bagnaia and Rins started from the front row.
Bagnaia converted his pole into an early lead. Rins and Marini also held their starting positions. Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) dropped back and crashed after just a few corners following contact with fellow rider Martin. Shortly thereafter, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) also went down and was eliminated.
During the first lap, Marini lost third place to Jack Miller (KTM) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) also passed. Up front, Bagnaia pushed the pace and tried to open a gap, but Rins didn’t give up easily.
Miller, on the other hand, had to let something tear off. After four laps, his gap grew to over a second for the first time. That’s how much separated Miller and Quartararo, who stayed in fourth, followed by VR46 pilots Marini and Marco Bezzecchi.
Miller’s next crash
That order didn’t change for a while until Miller crashed on lap eight. It was his seventh crash this weekend. Quartararo inherited third place but was more than two seconds down and Marini was lurking from behind.
On lap eight the next crash happened and this time Bagnaia got it. As in Argentina, the World Champion crashed again while in the lead at Turn 2.
With that, Rins led the race ahead of Quartararo and Marini. Bezzecchi was already almost three seconds behind in fourth place. And Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) rushed in from behind. After a mediocre start, the Spaniard fought his way up the field in the first half of the race and knocked on Bezzecchi’s door.
The falls continued further back. After Joan Mir (Honda), Brad Binder (KTM) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR-Honda) also went down. Binder continued and was even in the points last, because there were only 14 drivers left in the race.
With eight laps to go, Marini used the Ducati power and passed Quartararo on the back straight. At this point, the VR46 pilot drove the fastest laps in the field and began to reduce the gap to Rins at the front.
Bezzecchi falls behind Oliviera
Things weren’t going so well for Marini’s teammate Bezzecchi. He lost fourth place to Vinales and then fell behind Miguel Oliviera (RNF-Aprilia).
As the final five laps approached, Rins’ lead grew to over two seconds again. He had been informed of Marini’s attempt to catch up and reacted immediately. The LCR driver remained flawless right up to the finish line and thus celebrated his fourth victory – in all classes – on the US circuit in Austin.
Marini finished second and secured the long-awaited first podium in his third MotoGP season. Quartararo posted his best result of the season with third place. Vinales and Oliveira completed the top five. Bezzecchi maintained his championship lead in sixth. He is now six points ahead of Bagnaia.
Johann Zarco (Pramac-Ducati) finished seventh ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini-Ducati). MotoGP rookie Augusto Fernandez (Tech-3-GasGas) celebrated his first top 10 finish in tenth.
Behind them, Michele Pirro (Ducati), Jonas Folger (Tech-3-GasGas) and the crashed Brad Binder rounded out the field. Shortly before the end of the race, Stefan Bradl (Honda) was still in eleventh place, but crashed out at the end of the penultimate lap.