Valuable Sprint finishes for Repsol Honda Team pair
Joan Mir and Stefan Bradl collected important data over the course of the Americas GP Sprint race, taking 12th and 18th place respectively.
Saturday at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas brought the third weekend of the new 2023 MotoGP World Championship format, morning Qualifying followed by the Sprint race in the afternoon. The 10-lap battle was again a thrilling affair over the 5.5 kilometers of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Q1 saw Mir again on the brink of passing through, the #36 setting the second fastest lap of the session with just moments left on the clock. A final flying lap from Zarco knocked Mir out of the crucial top-two spots with Mir ultimately securing 13th on the grid for the Sprint and feature race.
From the head of the fifth row, Mir made a strong start and immediately began to battle with the likes of Oliveira and Morbidelli. After running wide early in the race, the Repsol Honda Team rider focused on his recovery and steadily picked his way back up the field to cross the line in 12th place. While Mir was aiming for more, the Sprint race did yield important information to continue his adaption to the Honda RC213V.
On the other side of the garage, Stefan Bradl continued to make improvements and qualified in 21st. The German then headed into his first ever MotoGP Sprint race aiming to gather as much data as possible and avoid any unnecessary risks. This attitude saw Bradl achieve his target of finishing as the top Test Rider in the race as he crossed the line in 18th position.
Alex Rins scored his debut podium finish on the Honda RC213V as the LCR Honda rider put in an impressive performance to take second place – equaling his qualifying result. This is Honda’s second Sprint podium of the season.
Sunday will see the full 20-lap Americas Grand Prix, scheduled to start at 14:00 Local Time, take place. Both Repsol Honda Team riders are eager to return to the track and put their learnings into action and take advantage of today’s result.
Joan Mir
“The Sprint today shows us that there is still work to do, especially with being able to really ride how I want on the bike. But we are learning and improving all the time, this is the important point and what we are focusing on. It was really important to finish the Sprint today after two difficult and unlucky ones at the start. As a result, we have a better idea of what to expect tomorrow so we can prepare better. It was a really demanding race in this heat and with the conditions out on track.”
Stefan Bradl
“We arrived here with realistic expectations, and we were able to achieve what we set out to do. The Sprint is very intense, it’s what I expected and especially here it’s really demanding in this weather and with this physical track. I lost a bit of ground in the first high-speed braking, but I am not in a situation or a position to take a lot of risks. We were able to learn some good things about the bike for tomorrow and the objective is to again have another consistent race.”
Americas GP - Sprint Race
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | 12 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 20'35.270 |
| 2 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 9 | LCR Honda | Honda | 2.545 |
| 3 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 7 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 4.706 |
| 4 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 6 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 5.052 |
| 5 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 5 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 8.175 |
| 6 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 4 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 8.877 |
| 7 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 3 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 9.453 |
| 8 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 2 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 10.768 |
| 9 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 1 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 12.448 |
| 10 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 0 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 12.739 |
| 11 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 0 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 14.251 |
| 12 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 14.988 |
| 13 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 0 | LCR Honda | Honda | 15.592 |
| 14 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 0 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 16.534 |
| 15 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 0 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 19.290 |
| 16 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 0 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 23.128 |
| 17 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 0 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 25.626 |
| 18 | Bradl Stefan | 6 | GER | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 25.787 |
| 19 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 0 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 27.169 |
| 20 | Folger Jonas | 94 | GER | 0 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 46.973 |
| 21 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | DNF | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | DNF |
| 22 | Pirro Michele | 51 | ITA | DNF | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | DNF |
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 54 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 2 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | 53 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 3 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 35 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 4 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | 33 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 5 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 32 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 6 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 29 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 7 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 27 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 8 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 26 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 9 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 22 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 10 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 21 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 11 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 18 | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 12 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 18 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 13 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 18 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 14 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 8 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 15 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 7 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 16 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 7 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 17 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 6 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 18 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 5 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 19 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | 5 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 20 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 2 | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia |
| 21 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 0 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 22 | Bradl Stefan | 6 | GER | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 23 | Folger Jonas | 94 | GER | 0 | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM |
| 24 | Pirro Michele | 51 | ITA | 0 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
Location Information
The Circuit Of The Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time… read more.
| Length | 5.513 kilometres / 3.426 miles |
| Width | 15 metres |
| Left corners | 11 |
| Right corners | 9 |
| Longest straight | 1.2 kilometres / 0.746 miles |
| Constructed | 2012 |
| Modified | 2018 (track repairs to the surface to smooth down bumps) |
9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd Austin, TX 78617 - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 2m 00.864s (164.2 km/h) Maverick Viñales (Aprilia, 2024) |
| Race Lap | 2m 02.575s (161.9 km/h) Maverick Viñales (Aprilia, 2024) |
| Race Time | 41m 09.503s (160.7 km/h) Maverick Viñales (Aprilia, 2024) |
| 2024 Sprint Winner | Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) |
| 2024 Race Winner | Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) |
