LCR

Nakagami crashes on Saturday's Sprint

IDEMITSU Honda LCR rider Takaaki Nakagami crashed on Saturday’s Sprint at the Circuit of the Americas.

It's been a Sprint to forget for Nakagami and the crew as on the first lap of the race, a collision with a rival led to a crash, leaving him on the gravel. Fortunately, the rider is fine and hasn't suffered any consequences. The Sunday race will be a new opportunity to push and fight for the best possible result.

Takaaki Nakagami DNF

"It's been a racing incident; we've been unlucky today. We wanted to test some things ahead of tomorrow's race, and the Sprint was important for this reason. We'll try to do our maximum on Sunday".

KTM

Miller fights to the top seven in USA MotoGP™ Sprint
MotoGP 2024 - Round 03 of 21, Circuit of the Americas, USA – Qualification and Sprint

Jack Miller battled hard for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing through qualifying and Sprint action at the epic, fast and sprawling Circuit of the Americas for round three of 2024 MotoGP. The Australian took 7th in the afternoon race. Brad Binder ranked 12th for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas Sprint under a hot Texan sky. The KTM Academy was well represented by Jose Antonio Rueda who clocked the 2nd fastest lap-time in Moto3™

‘COTA’ attracts adjectives like ‘tricky’, ‘technical’ and even more fanciful ones like ‘rodeo’ for the weaving blend of turns and speed through the 5.5km, 20-corner layout on the outskirts of Austin. Red Bull KTM came to the popular site hunting more competitiveness and with their eyes on podium potential for the first time in the USA.

Sunshine, breezy and hot conditions graced both Friday’s practice schedule and Saturday’s intense qualification schedule heading into the 10-lap afternoon Sprint. Both riders had to attempt Q1 in the morning and an early slow-speed fall at Turn 11 for Binder disrupted the session. The South African pushed in the final minutes to register a ‘flyer’ but missed out. Miller, in contrast, headed the session but then lacked enough tires to make an impact in Q2 and took 11th.


Regaining ground was the theme of the Sprint and Jack surged to the front of the second group and held 6th in the second half of the race. Brad was part of the same large pack and a few positions further back. Miller dueled all the way to the flag and pocketed points for 7th. Brad was 12th but working on set-up and information for the GP distance tomorrow.

The Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas gets underway at 14.00 local time (21.00 CEST) and will run for 20 laps. Moto3 is the first race of the day at 18.00 CEST and then Moto2 at 19.15.

Jack Miller, 11th in qualification, 7th in the Sprint: “Obviously we wanted a bit more but we had a decent start and got into the group. I had a nice battle towards the end but still have to get an understanding of that last sector [of the lap]. I could catch-up in some sectors but lost in others. We have a bit of work to do but happy enough. Fingers crossed we can get in that position tomorrow and have a crack at the top five. The pace of the race will be different so will the strategy.”

Brad Binder, 17th in qualification, 12th in the Sprint: “A tough Saturday. The big issue this morning was that when I crashed I had one bike set up in one direction and one bike in another. I had to qualify on the one that I didn’t want and with a mix of used and new tires. I messed up the qualifying and it made the whole day difficult. Starting from 17th was not ideal but I had a good one and it took me a while to work out the setting I had on the bike and how I could push. Now I understand our potential and I think in the race tomorrow I can give it a bit more of a push in the first laps.”

Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Qualifying was a bit tricky. We went to Q1 and Brad’s crash compromised that session for him while Jack got through to Q2 although he couldn’t put a lap together as he had done before. Starting from the fourth and six rows we knew it would be tough for the Sprint with little time to recover positions. Anyhow Jack did his job and brought home some points. Brad recovered some positions but not quite enough. We have another chance tomorrow and will try to leave this race with something in the pocket.”

Grand Prix of Americas photographs can be found HERE

Results Qualifying MotoGP Grand Prix of Americas

1. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Aprilia +2:00.864
2. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 +0.328
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +0.402
11. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1.433
17. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2:02.140 (Q1)
18. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 +2:02.223 (Q1)

Aprilia

Viñales dominates the sprint in the USA

POLE AND VICTORY FOR MAVERICK, ALEIX FINISHES FIFTH


Maverick Viñales confirmed the outstanding form he had demonstrated from the qualifiers, taking his first pole position of the season with the RS-GP24. The Spanish rider led the sprint from the first to final lap, with confidence and demonstrating an excellent race pace. Viñales finished with an advantage of more than two seconds to celebrate his second win of the season after the one in Portimão.

Aleix Espargaró, starting from the seventh spot on the grid, battled with the group in the opening laps of the race. After several bold overtakes, he finished fifth.

MAVERICK VIÑALES
"It’s incredible when everything works so well, I am really happy. I feel like this is one of the best moments of my career, especially in terms of my riding abilities. Physically, I feel strong, and that is fundamental on this track. I’d also like to thank the team. They are focused and motivated. We were hungry for this win."

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
"I find myself in difficulty, especially in the stop-and-go braking sections, but I am still satisfied with my performance and the result, especially considering that this is one of the worst circuits for me. I am extremely happy for Aprilia and for Maverick. This win demonstrates that the bike is improving greatly."

Yamaha

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins started today's Grand Prix of The Americas Sprint from P16 and P15 respectively. After pushing to the fullest for 10 laps around the Circuit of The Americas, the pair finished in reverse order in 15th and 16th position.

LOCAL TIME: 15:00 GMT-5

AIR TEMPERATURE: 26°C

TRACK TEMPERATURE: 40°C

WEATHER: SUNNY / HUMIDITY 50%

MORE CIRCUIT INFO

15th

F. QUARTARARO
+15.574 / 10 LAPS


16th

Á. RINS
+18.146 / 10 LAPS


Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins were keen to make progress on the Grand Prix of The Americas Super Saturday. Though the teammates didn‘t quite have the pace they had hoped for during the Sprint and finished in 15th and 16th place respectively, they did collect further data for Sunday's Race.

After a good start from P16, Quartararo wrapped up the first lap in 13th place. He held the position until lap 3 when Marco Bezzecchi slipped by, and Alex Marquez did likewise one lap later. The Frenchman sat tight as the group that he was chasing, consisting of five riders, was battling for tenth position. However, his hopes of a top-10 result crumbled as the rider group got pulled apart over the last seven laps of the Sprint. Quartararo put pressure on Alex Marquez until the very end, though. He finished 0.106s behind the Spaniard, in 15th place, 15.574s from first.

Rins had a good launch from P15, rocketing to 12th, but after a somewhat chaotic opening lap that temporarily saw him fall back to 22nd, he crossed the start-finish straight for the first time in 17th. The Spaniard wasn't about to give up easily, though, and was soon in a fight for 16th place with Johann Zarco. On lap 4, the Yamaha man made it stick, finding himself behind his teammate, albeit with a significant gap. Rins put his head down, but he was unable to make up ground and took the chequered flag in 16th place, 18.146s from the front.

Today's results see Quartararo keep his 11th place (or joint 10th place with Fabio Di Giannantonio) in the overall standings with 15 points. Rins remains in 18th position with 3 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP stay 8th in the team championship with 18 points, and Yamaha hold on to 4th position in the constructor‘s championship with 15 points.

On the Americas GP Sunday, the teammates will start the track action with the Warm Up held from 09:40 - 09:50 (GMT -5), followed by the Race which starts at 14:00.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Team Director

After the tough Friday sessions, we knew this race weekend would be an uphill battle. Following a less than ideal start yesterday, we had a lot of things to try this morning, but we didn't have that much time – just the 30-minute FP2 before qualifying. In the end, Álex and Fabio qualified further down the starting grid than we would have liked, in P15 and P16, and we knew this would make today's Sprint and tomorrow's Race even harder. We went into the 10-lap Sprint with the objective to get some useful data, and we will make adjustments accordingly. We'll try the tweaked settings in tomorrow's Warm Up and hopefully this will pay off during the Race.

FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

Today, I was behind Alex Marquez, and I was faster in Sector 2 and 3, but he was faster in Sector 1 and 4. Every time I caught up, he pulled away again, so I couldn't overtake him on the last laps. That said, on every run we did this weekend, we tried quite big changes on the bike. Also, for the Sprint race we went out with a bike that we never used, and I think that's something good about being in the position that we are in now: we can try big changes. I think that the way in which we are working is good, even if the results don't reflect it. We are trying things we never did in the past. Tomorrow we will try something new again in the morning, and if that gives us new ideas for the Race, then we will try that. We don't have to be conservative in our current position, and trying different things is giving us a sense of direction to work towards, and this gives us positive ideas for the future.

Track House

Trackhouse Racing – A point to progress in America

2024 RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS - Round 3 of the MotoGP World Championship

Qualifying and SPRINT Race Report – Saturday, April 13

Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas. USA: Track length: 3.42 miles / 5.51 kilometer

The first Qualifying session at Trackhouse’s first home Grand Prix proved frustrating for both #88 Miguel Oliveira and #25 Raul Fernandez, ahead of the Sprint Race. Both narrowly missed out on the top two spots, Raul – third on the time sheet and Miguel – fourth. Missing out on progression to Qualifying 2 meant a mid-field start from 13th and 14th on the grid. Frustratingly close!

Arriving at the grid meant another significant moment reached for Trackhouse – the first race on US asphalt. Tire choice for both the #88 and the #25 were medium front and soft Michelin rear and progress was made after Lap 1 – Raul improving by four places when he crossed the stripe after the first loop and Miguel up two spots.

Raul gained another place on Lap 6 to 8th but on the final lap slipped back to 9th – progress and the first valuable point on the board for the 2024 season. Miguel ran solidly in 12th through the race and gained a spot to 11th at the chequers.



Trackhouse Racing now looks forward to its first Grand Prix of the Americas and a 100th start in World Championship racing for Raul Fernandez.



Free Practice 2: 10.10am – 10.40am – Dry track

Air Temperature: 70°F / 21°C

Track Temperature: 82.4°F / 28°C



#25 Raul Fernandez

P9 – Best Lap: 2’02.807 – Lap 8 of 10

Top speed: 214.4 mph / 345 km/h



#88 Miguel Oliveira

P12 – Best Lap: 2’02.955 – Lap 5 of 11

Top speed: 211.64 mph / 340.6 km/h





Qualifying 1: 10.50am – 11.05am – Dry track

Air Temperature (end of session): 71.6°F / 22°C

Track Temperature (end of session): 89.6°F / 32°C



#25 Raul Fernandez – Qualified 13th

P3 – Best Lap: 2’01.726 – Lap 6 of 7

Top speed: 213 mph / 342.8 km/h



#88 Miguel Oliveira – Qualified 14th

P4 – Best Lap: 2’01.844 – Lap 3 of 7

Top speed: 213.6 mph / 343.9 km/h





Sprint Race: 3pm – Dry track: 10 Laps – 35.26 miles / 55.13 kilometers

Air Temperature (end of session): 78.8°F / 26°C

Track Temperature (end of session): 104°F / 40°C



#25 Raul Fernandez – P9 (Race Points: 1 Championship Standing: 20th Total Points: 1)

Race Time: 20’ 37.462 Best Lap: 2’03.022 – Lap 2 of 10

Average speed: 99.6 mph 160.3 Km/h Top speed: 217.85 mph / 350.6 km/h



#88 Miguel Oliveira – P11 (Race Points: 0 Championship Standing: 14th Total Points: 8)

Race Time: 20’38.189 Best Lap: 2’03.209

Average speed: 99.54 mph / 160.2 km/h Top Speed: 218.54 mph / 351.7 km/h

RAUL FERNANDEZ

“When you are in Q1, it’s always a lottery to get through to Q2 so, in the end, P13 was quite a good result. Of course, I want more and we have to understand how to improve in the Qualifying, as we have a margin there. Overall, I’m happy - I think we did a really good Sprint race. I feel good again on the bike and I can do what I want on the bike. The result was good, but we want more and tomorrow we will try to get some more points, especially here at the home Grand Prix for the team.”

MIGUEL OLIVEIRA

“I feel a little bit disappointed about the start. I didn’t have much luck with the line I chose and I had hoped to gain a few positions at the start but it was quite the opposite. Then I made a few overtakes and could manage to gain some time on the group that was fighting for P7. I’m just a bit frustrated to end up outside the points but we know how tight the Sprint race can be. For tomorrow, we can hopefully sort our start a bit - we launch off in the middle, so anything can happen. Let’s see. I’m optimistic for tomorrow, it’s going to be a long and physically demanding race and we also have tire management coming into play.”

*******

The Ducati Lenovo Team score more points in Austin sprint race: Enea Bastianini is sixth, Francesco Bagnaia eighth.


Two Desmosedici GP on the podium with Marc Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) second and Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing) third


The Ducati Lenovo Team has tackled today the third sprint race of the 2024 MotoGP season at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas. From fifth place on the grid, Enea Bastianini crossed the finish line in sixth place, while Francesco Bagnaia, who headed the second row, finished eighth.

Bastianini had a good start to the race as he exited turn one in fourth position. The #23 rider, despite losing touch with the leading group, stayed in fourth until halfway in the encounter. In the final stages, he then lost some ground and dropped to seventh, before having the better of Miller and wrapping up the race in sixth place.

Bagnaia did not enjoy the perfect start and found himself stuck in the middle of the group of riders entering turn one and then down to tenth after a few corners. The reigning World Champion had a challenging time in getting up to speed especially in the first part of the encounter, but he did well in recovering two positions in the final laps and was eighth at the chequered flag.

The Sunday, 20-lap Americas GP race will get underway tomorrow at 21:00 local time (GMT -5).

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 6th
“It was a difficult race. I thought I would have challenged for the podium, but I lacked rear grip: I lost ground from the front runners straight away and then lost some positions. Fortunately, the situation then stabilised, and I managed to overtake Jack (Miller) towards the end and finished sixth. This is an issue that we hadn’t previously experienced this weekend, so we’ll have to look at the data with the team in order to understand what happened. I always showed a podium-worthy pace and that is the goal for tomorrow’s race, so I am positive.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 10th
“Unfortunately everything I had imagined for today did not happen. Until this morning all was perfect, so much so that I set the best lap in FP2 with a tyre that was beyond the number of laps of the sprint race. In the race today I was lapping one second slower and there was no way I could push; I was lacking rear grip, and the bike was sliding when opening the throttle on corner exit. If we also take into account the spinning at the start, I’d say everything went the wrong way. Now we need to stay focused and do some more work in the warmup in order to be ready for tomorrow’s race.”

Tech 3

ROOKIE SENSATION ACOSTA PERFORMS IN COTA AS HE TAKES 4TH OF TISSOT SPRINT AFTER FIRST ROW-TAKE OFF

There was plenty to look forward to on Saturday in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas with the premier class disputing their third qualifying day of the season (already), followed later on in the afternoon by the exciting Tissot Sprint. Rookie star Pedro Acosta continued to shine and secured his first front row in MotoGP™, taking the second place on the grid behind poleman Maverick Vinales, before he challenged the best riders in the Tissot Sprint to eventually finish in fourth, his best result so far on a Saturday. Augusto Fernandez classified in eighteenth on the grid, but unfortunately crashed in the first lap of the sprint.

After an impressive first day in Texas at the end of which he finished P5 of Practice to qualify straight to Q2, MotoGP™ new star continued to shine on Saturday, for the biggest pleasure of the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 squad. The day started pretty well as the young Shark topped Free Practice 2 0.171 seconds faster than two time-World Champion Francesco Bagnaia. No need to go crazy, it was just free practice 2, but things were looking pretty positive for the rookie ahead of the final stage of qualifying. Joined by Jack Miller and Alex Marquez coming from Q1, the rookie pulled a late lap in 2’01.192 in Q2 to secure his first front row in the premier class in second, 0.328 seconds behind poleman Maverick Vinales, and just ahead of Marc Marquez. As the lights went out at 15:00 local time (GMT-5) for ten laps of craziness, Pedro Acosta took a rather decent start but lost a position to Marc Marquez as he exited lap 1 in third. The next lap, he clocked his fastest lap of the sprint, in 2’02.586, and he held tight his position with Vinales and Marquez as they formed the front-trio. Acosta continued to put pressure on the Gresini rider as he kept registering faster laps than the #93, but the eight time-World champion did not let go. Meanwhile, Maverick Vinales had made a significant gap as he flew away at the front, and at the back, Jorge Martin was coming back big time from his sixth position on the grid. While he tried to defend his provisional place on the podium, the tyres were dropping for Acosta and he could not avoid an overtake from Martin on lap 5. With another five to go, the Shark slowed things down whilst he tried to maintain a competitive pace to avoid being caught back from behind. He finished fourth today and took his best Tissot Sprint result to date, as he added another six points to his bag.

On the other side, Augusto Fernandez lacked a bit of pace, confidence and luck in today’s Super Saturday. He headed to qualifying 1 with a decent pace and a good feeling on his RC16, but it was another extremely competitive pre-qualifying that took place in COTA on Saturday morning. Fernandez pulled a lap in 2’02.223, but he was still a bit far from the Q2 spots. He qualified in eighteen on the grid ahead of both the Tissot Sprint and Sunday’s main race. In the afternoon’s shootout, Augusto was unlucky and crashed in turn 15 of the first lap, while he was trying to defend his position. It is a shame after he had made a decent start, but the number 37 will have another opportunity to score points in Sunday’s main show, as the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas’ race will start at 14:00 local time (GMT-5).

Position: 4th

Championship: 6th

Points: 34

"It was a very good Saturday for us. In qualifying, we were able to do a really nice flying lap to get ourselves in the front row. If you start a bit behind, the overtakes can be really tricky here in T1, T11 and T12. In the Sprint, we took a super nice start, with a good pace, so for this I am happy. We are still learning, so we need to fine tune our tyres management in general to understand how we need to start the race, and when it is time to push a bit more in the sprint. We have already targeted the issues to solve for tomorrow, but overall the bike was great today! "

Pedro Acosta - Cota - 2024

Gresini

A SATURDAY ON TOP FORM: FRONT ROW AND PODIUM FOR MARC
Another podium under the belt for Team Gresini MotoGP, who scored a second-place finish in Texas courtesy of an excellent Marc Márquez. Just like in Portimão three weekends ago, another rostrum finish in the sprint race, behind an uncatchable Viñales. For the second time this year, the first Ducati at the finish line is the #93, light-blue liveried one.

It was a day to forget for Alex Márquez. The #73 only shone in Q1 as he managed to make into the final qualifying session, but then he was forced to a defensive sprint race in a battle for the last top14. The 20-lap race awaits the two standard bearers of Team Gresini MotoGP, with Marc Márquez who will line up on the third spot of the grid.
2nd - MARC MARQUEZ #93
“This is a podium that means a lot, especially as it wasn’t an easy one. The first race was very challenging: I wasn’t feeling comfortable on the bike, and it was difficult. I made a couple of important mistakes, but then I was able to keep Acosta and Martin behind and I also found a good rhythm – and from there I improved. I was feeling a lot better in the second part of the race and now we need to keep working in order to be competitive also tomorrow. I would sign for a third place, as there are so many fast riders.”

14th - ALEX MARQUEZ #73
“A coming together with another rider at turn two has made things even more complicated, after a Q2 that already wasn’t very fortunate. It was hard to turn things around from there. Now heads down and work hard, we have a long race tomorrow and we have the pace to play our part.”

Repsol Honda MotoGP

Marini takes important guidance from Austin Sprint

Luca Marini worked to take profit from an arduous Sprint race as his Repsol Honda Team teammate was once again the victim of early contact. Both riders aiming for more on Sunday.

Free Practice 2 gave both Luca Marini and Joan Mir time to assess more changes to their respective Honda RC213V machines after overnight work. Progress continued for them both as Qualifying approached. Difficulties continued for the Repsol Honda Team pairing during Q1, both able to improve on their best lap times but unfortunately unable to make major improvements to their positions.

Marini would end the Sprint in 17th place as he encountered never-before-seen chatter which severely limited his potential. Despite this, the #10 diligently completed the race in order to gather as much information as possible and improve on Sunday and in the future. Marini and his team already have ideas on how to improve their package for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

For Joan Mir the Sprint race was compromised early as heavy contact from another rider left his RC213V with serious damage. Although able to stay upright during the contact, Mir would crash several laps later due to the damage and the subsequent effects on the handling. He was unharmed in the fall.

Both riders will get a chance to test further improvements on Sunday in the 20-lap Grand Prix of the Americas, scheduled to start at 14:00 Local Time.

Luca Marini
17th

“It was a complicated race for us. I have never had this feeling with the chattering on the bike but I think the team and I can fix it for tomorrow. In the position we are in, the best thing we can do is keep trying different settings and making the most of the track time. Now we will work again with the team to understand what we can do on Sunday and also how we can work on the development in the coming weeks.”

Luca Marini

Joan Mir
DNF

“I made quite a good start but then I suffered a big contact with another rider and all of the wings and fairing on the left side of the bike was damaged. It was very hard to control in the change of direction and in braking and finally I fell. I am OK and we will be able to go again tomorrow. It’s clear there is still a lot to do, so we need to keep our head down and do the work in front of us.”