He had a date with history, and he did not fail. Maverick Viñales, so often irregular, inconstant or erratic, became the sheriff of Austin with a superb victory at the Circuit of the Americas, coming back from 11th position in the first lap.
An extraordinary triumph, but also historic, since the rider from Roses became the first to win with three different factories in the MotoGP era: with Aprilia, Yamaha and Suzuki.
Tension at the start of Austin, with Maverick Viñales on pole, Pedro Acosta, the youngest driver on a front row at 19 years and 324 days old, and Marc Márquez, the sheriff of COTA.
The traffic lights went out and Acosta was the fastest starting off, leading for the first time in MotoGP. Disastrous Viñales with the last minute tire change (the middle rear), who fell to 11th position after colliding with Bagnaia. The privilege of the pole to the trash. And Márquez, regular, from third to fifth, behind Miller.
The fight for victory was soon forged between Acosta and Martín, who followed the wheel of the Murcian. The Madrid native put the wheel in, but the rookie held up well, with the lesson learned from Saturday. He said that he had “signed it down.” Bagnaia joined the chase, with Márquez fourth after overtaking Miller. Viñales climbed to 8th place.
Tension rose at the Circuit of the Americas in the fourth lap. Martín hit Acosta with the ax to take the lead of the race from him, the Tiburon could not defend himself or return the play and gave up, and at the same time, Márquez took advantage of the blow to overtake the Murcian and hook up with Martín. Bagnaia also imposed his stripes to overtake Acosta and take third.
But far from the rookie Acosta collapsing, a four-way duel for victory began between the three Ducati and the Murcian’s KTM, which returned to the fray. Martín threw Bagnaia behind him after overtaking Márquez, and the rookie third after also leaving Cervera behind. A festival that got hotter by the minute.
Hostilities then broke out, starting from round 6-7. Acosta dared with the champion to place second (v. 7), and Márquez imitated him to rise to third place. Bagnaia had to be content with fourth, with Viñales already back in the noble positions, fifth and threatening. The one from Roses and the one from Turin opened an intense dance for 4th place.
On lap 10, the halfway point of the race, Acosta tied the blanket around his head and launched his open heart attack for victory. With brazenness and aggression he ate Martín to put himself first. But it didn’t last long, because Márquez, who saw his great opportunity, surpassed the Madrid native and Acosta to take the lead (v. 11).
However, when the man from Cervera pulled hard to open a gap over Acosta and consolidate the lead, he fell to the ground. He lost the rear wheel of his Ducati and slid on the asphalt. Acosta was leading again… although he now had another threat.
Viñales came up strong behind him, and he took Martín out of the way to take second. He put the wheel into the Murcian without complexes, with a superior pace he took the lead on lap 13. But Acosta did not let go, glued, waiting.
However, Maverick’s pace was devastating. In a few laps he gained more than 1 second on Acosta (1.3 on lap 16), who in turn distanced Martín by 8 tenths, separating the three in the podium positions. The Murcian repeated the podium, the youngest in history to achieve it (he unseats Marc Márquez).
They couldn’t be trusted either because the two red Ducatis of Bastianini and Bagnaia were close behind. Enea dared to put the wheel in and overtake the Madrid native for a few moments.
In the final laps, Viñales maintained and expanded his advantage over Acosta (he managed to distance him by 1.4 seconds), while the Murcian was not disturbed by Martín, who suffered a furious attack from Bastianini. The Spaniard was left without an answer and had to give up, losing his podium position – the first race that he did not climb this year – with two laps remaining. But Martín maintains the lead in the World Cup.
Bagnaia minimized the damage with fifth place. Aleix Espargaró signed the seventh.
