It's time for the big boys and the big toys. The preliminaries at COTA are over. Circuit of the Americas will now rock to the 1000cc thunder of the most technically advanced motorcycles on the planet. MotoGP is on, now!
So far, so good. The sun will likely come out for MotoGP. We're going to be in store for a great race. Will it be a battle between Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa? Marquez is going to have to stop himself. Fox Sports' Jonathan Green interviewed Marquez at the Wild Bubba's barbecue shop for a burger. Wild Bubba's serves many kinds of meat for their hamburgers. Now, to the interview. Marquez knew he'd made a mistake earlier in the season.
Marquez won all the American races. He feels good about having American fans. He wants to repeat. He is amazed that he's won the championship. Motorbikes are his life, and have been since age four. Texas rattlesnake sausage. Will that make Marquez go faster? Hmmm. He's fearless. The records have been broken. He won the old 125cc class and two Moto 2 championships. Mick Doohan won his titles on a Repsol Honda bike. Can Marquez continue to do so?
It's time for opening ceremonies as the National Anthem (the Star Spangled Banner), is being sung by Kimberly Dunn. In ten minutes, the lights will go out. The engines have been fired. We're ready to race. Get a good start. Make it tough for Marquez, and watch out for your tires. Marquez was on fire in qualifying yesterday. He ran a 2:02.7 for pole position. He had to keep going. Dani Pedrosa wants and needs a win. Stefan Bradl is third.
Aleix Espargaro rolls off fourth. Jorge Lorenzo is fifth. Valentino Rossi, sixth. Three Yamaha's on the second row. Nicky Hayden has struggled. The Grand Prix of the Americas, is ready for a start. We're into the warmup lap, coming to the grid. What a race this could be, and it's only round two of the championship. Let's race!
At the start, Jorge Lorenzo, jumps the start! He'll be penalized for that. Into turn two. 21 laps scheduled. Valentino Rossi is moving past Bradley Smith. Lorenzo has a ride through penalty at 60 kilometers an hour. That's 37 miles per hour. Gunslingers are hard men. Marquez is second and could get the lead. Valentino Rossi didn't get the best start either. He's buried in the pack. Can he pass Bradley Smith? Lorenzo comes in, and must be gutted.
Now, it's time for a scrap between the Repsol Honda's. These two ran together last year. Marquez leads. In third and fourth, it's Ducati, with Andrea Ianonne and Cal Crutchlow. Aleix Espargaro sank like a stone on the start. Honda is pulling away now towards turn 12. The three Open class factory Ducati's are going for it as Valentino Rossi wants by Andrea Dovizioso. Dovizioso says, "no way!" Stefan Bradl is running well, too.
Bradl wants points and doesn't want to crash. Marquez runs 2:03.6. Ianonne is at 2:04.1.. Brad Smith, Aleix Espargaro, and others, are towards the rear of the top ten. Now, Lorenzo has to catch up. He has to pass Broc Parkes in 22nd spot. The Doctor is in the house. Rossi wants by Stefan Bradl. Watch for Cal Crutchlow, too. He's going for it, in his first race for Ducati at COTA. Rossi wants through, and he does it. Rossi wants it. But, the Ducati's are fast!
Rossi still says, "you can't get by me, sunshine." Last year, it was Honda's race. Yamaha is strong, though. Rossi is much more competitive. He flies past Crutchlow. Rossi tries hanging off the bike so he gets more corner speed and less lean angle. It's hard to do. Stefan Bradl passes Cal Crutchlow. Watch the Tech 3 Yamaha's. Andrea Dovizioso is coming quick, too. These bikes are on full tanks. The Open class Ducati's are allowed more fuel.
The gap is 4.1 seconds to Andrea Ianonne. Alvaro Bautista is up to tenth place. Rossi pulls away. Bradl wants by Rossi. Colin Edwards is 16th, Nicky Hayden 14th, and Scott Redding, 12th. Dani Pedrosa doesn't want to be messed with. He has to be aggressive. Marquez is pushing. But, will Pedrosa step up to the plate? The Doctor is calling, and Rossi runs 2:04.3, and is faster than Ianonne on the third Ducati. Colin Edwards will retire. But, Valentino Rossi will keep racing.
Yamaha doesn't have the same pace as the Honda's. No rain right now. It might not come. We might get this race in, chaps. Valentino Rossi is right on the rear wheel of Andrea Ianonne. Ducati is coming back to the fore with the Open class entry and new personnel on the team. The gap is about 1.3 seconds between the two Repsol bikes. Now, what's going on with Cal Crutchlow? Is his bike busted? Has he had a problem? Lap six. 2:03.4 is quick lap for Ducati. Marquez leads Pedrosa, Ianonne, Rossi, Bradl, and Dovizioso.
Nicky Hayden is 13th, Colin Edwards, is 16th. Thirteen laps to go. Jorge Lorenzo might actually be coming back into the points. Colin Edwards is a great motorcycle racing ambassador. But, he will retire, because he's already 40 years old. A great ambassador, and a great champion on two wheels. He's a two-time World Superbike champion, too. Lorenzo is still digging. Supercross champion Chad Reed is in the pits. Reed was a fan of Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner.
Cal Crutchlow pitted for tires. He's not having the best race. But, watch Rossi and Bradl. Stefan Bradl is going for it. But, Rossi might have tire trouble. Alvaro Bautista, is out. Andrea Ianonne runs wide, and Andrea Dovizioso passes Rossi. What ahppened to Bautista? Marquez had problems with the front tire. It's still a 2013 spec tire and not a new one. The gap is 2.3 seconds. Marquez is consistent in the 2:03.9 range, and half a second quicker than Dani Pedrosa.
Wow. Jorge Lorenzo is up to 14th. Colin Edwards is now up to 15th. Eleven laps remain now, folks. Rossi has to watch out. Bradley Smith is coming and so is Pol Espargaro. Rossi has issues. Espargaro and Smith are all over him. He's got no fight in the Yamaha for the rest of this race. Aleix Espargaro is sixth and Bradley Smith is up to eighth or so. Check that, ninth. Yonny Hernandez tenth, Nicky Hayden twelfth. Rossi has trouble with his front tire.
The gap is three seconds. Is it game over Red Rover, for the rest of the field? Nicky Hayden is having an OK run. He's struggled. Now, MotoGP doesn't stop. The riders will pit and change to their spare motorcycles. Will this happen? Marquez leads Pedrosa and Ianonne, with Dovizioso, and Bradl, completing the top five. Uh oh! Cal Crutchlow has a wickedly bad crash in the esses. It's probably in turn seven after changing tires. Ianonne and Bradl battle. Rain could come. If that happens, remember, they've got their spare bikes. They will have to be quick pitting for the spare bike.
The gap is 3.8 seconds between the two Repsol Honda's. Pile on the power. Dani Pedrosa leads. Jorge Lorenzo is now 12th, running a 2:05.8. Bradl runs a 2:05.6. Nicky Hayden has Jorge Lorenzo behind. Hayden is struggling with his new team. But, he'll keep pushing. Hayden pulls away from his team mate Scott Redding. Yonny Hernandez runs behind Jorge Lorenzo. Now, Stefan Bradl is challenging for third. He's pushing Andrea Ianonne.
Ianonne might have a good race. But, here's, wow. Bradl passes. 210 miles an hour down the back straight. These guys are flying. Lorenzo wants by Nicky Hayden. He has. Side by side action into the triple apex corner towards turn 19. Dovizioso is going well, passing Bradl. Stefan Bradl is running out of time. Only five laps to go, as Dovizioso wants a podium. Now, Bradley Smith has come out of nowhere, and he might be up at the sharp end.
He's gained 2.7 seconds over the space of a year. Jorge Lorenzo is now in the top ten. Aleix Espargaro is ninth. Valentino Rossi, eighth. Espargaro is six seconds behind Rossi. Marc Marquez is the only rider on the hard compound tire, and most are on medium compound at the front, according to Fox Sports' pit reporter, Greg White. We watch Stefan Bradl against the Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso, for the final step on the podium. Bradley Smith is also there, running a 2:05.4.
There's four laps to go. Marquez runs a 2:04 across the line. The gap is 5.2 seconds. Pedrosa needs to catch up. Pedrosa would be world champ if it wasn't for his pesky star team mate. Dovizioso runs a 2:06.1. The Ducati's are much slower than the Honda's. Three laps left now. No question... Bradley Smith is booking it. Colin Edwards has retired from this race with mechanical issues. He wanted to finish. But, not today.
Karel Abraham is up into the points. Two laps to go. Marc Marquez is doing it again. He has had it his own way, and might win his second consecutive Grand Prix at COTA. Marquez is the whole package. Fearless, confidence, and a factory backed team, with Honda. Bradley Smith sweeps around Bradl. Bradl won't have it. Bradl will fight to the bitter end. He needs points with a lap and a half to go. Bradl carries the wheel, and there's synchronized wheelies, with wheelie control on the bike.
Pedrosa is not going to have enough for Marquez. But, Smith still wants by Bradl. Darn it. Rossi has crashed. This is bad for Valentino Rossi. Well, he's back in it now. He's eighth, having run a 2:08. He's three seconds behind. But, thankfully he's back. It's the last lap. Marc Marquez is going to win a second race here in Austin, Texas. He's beaten his team mate by five and a half seconds. He's not phased, and still going for it. Holy cow! He wiggles and saves the bike! The winner, Marc Marquez! Back-to-back for Marc Marquez in Texas, and for the season!
#93 Marc Marquez ESP Honda
The next race is in South America. It will be in Argentina, at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, in the province of Santiago del Estero, in Rio Hondo, Argentina, in two weeks.
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