Marquez Makes History
Moto GP Texas
www.motorcycle-usa.com Byron Wilson
Perfect conditions greeted riders for the much-anticipated MotoGP race
at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez made
history by becoming the youngest race winner ever in the premier class as well
as the first GP racer to win at CoTA. The rookie outpaced his teammate, Dani
Pedrosa, by 1.5 seconds at the checkers, but the battle for lead position was
heated between the two riders throughout. Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo
rounds out the podium in third.
Marquez and Pedrosa were fast off the start, with Pedrosa claiming the early
lead ahead of LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl. Marquez settled into third, but was
able to find a line past Bradl within the first lap. Once in second, Marquez
clung to Pedrosa’s rear tire and remained there for 12 laps as the two
stretched a gap on the field, leaving Lorenzo well over three seconds behind at
points during the race. Marquez made a seamless pass with nine laps remaining,
taking an inside line on Pedrosa through the chicane and held the lead to the
finish. Pedrosa stayed well within reach of retaliation for a number of laps,
but was unable to make the move.
Lorenzo rode a lonely race in third, settling in early and remaining there
unchallenged. Fourth-place finisher Cal Crutchlow of Monster Yamaha Tech 3, on
the other hand, fought hard for his finish, trading spots a number of times
with Bradl and Lorenzo’s teammate, Valentino Rossi. Crutchlow was fifth off the
start and was strong there for a number of laps. He ran wide off track at one
point and fell between Rossi and Go & Fun Honda’s Alvaro Bautista, who were
trading punches in the battle for sixth. The British rider pushed past in the
following laps and got back to Bradl, finally making the move into fourth with
13 laps remaining in competition.
Bradl ended the day in fifth, followed by Rossi in sixth. The Doctor struggled
with braking issues during practice and qualifying earlier in the weekend, but
came out ahead in the drawn-out fight for sixth with Bautista. The Go & Fun
rider ended in eighth, finally losing ground to Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso in
the latter half of the race. Dovi’s teammate, Nicky Hayden, grabbed ninth and
Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone rounded out the top-10.
Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro led the CRT category once again,
taking 11th ahead of prototype riders Bradley Smith of Tech 3 Yamaha and Ben
Spies of Ignite Pramac Racing in 12th and 13th respectively.
NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards had terrible luck early in the race,
with a mechanical issue forcing him to retire. Wild card entry, Blake Young of
Attack Performance Racing kept in competition to the finish, finishing in 21st.
Marquez is now tied with Lorenzo for the overall points lead at 41. Pedrosa is
in third, with 33 points and Rossi holds to fourth.
MotoGP Circuit of the Americas Results 2013:
1. Marc Marquez (Honda)
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
4. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha)
5. Stefan Bradl (Honda)
6. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
7. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati)
8. Alvaro Bautista (Honda)
9. Nicky Hayden (Ducati)
10. Andrea Iannone (Ducati)
11. Aleix Espargaro (ART)
12. Bradley Smith (Yamaha)
13. Ben Spies (Ducati)
14. Randy de Puniet (ART)
15. Yonny Hernandez (ART)
16. Michael Laverty (PBM)
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (FTR)
18. Hector Barbera (FTR)
19. Claudio Corti (FTR-Kawasaki)
20. Bryan Staring (FTR-Honda)
21. Blake Young (APR)
MotoGP Championship Points 2013:
1. Marc
Marquez, 41
2. Jorge Lorenzo, 41
3. Dani Pedrosa, 33
4. Valentino Rossi, 30
5. Cal Crutchlow, 24
6. Alvaro Bautista, 18
7. Andrea Dovizioso, 18
8. Nicky Hayden, 15
9. Andrea Iannone, 13
10. Stefan Bradl, 11
