Marini fights for points in complicated Americas GP
A difficult weekend in Texas came to a close for the Repsol Honda Team as Luca Marini battled for points and Joan Mir escaped injury in a mid-race crash.
Overhead clouds gave way to scorching sun as the MotoGP grid lined up for the 20-lap Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday afternoon on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. Both Luca Marini and Joan Mir were eager to make the most of the second race and continue collecting information for HRC’s engineers back in Japan. The pairing hustled for early positions in the melee of the opening lap with Marini gaining ground as the race began.
Luca Marini was once again the top Honda in the race as he kept his calm while those around him faltered. Steadily making progress and improving his lap time as the race went on, the #10 built his speed. As the race entered its final stages, the Italian focused on holding off a recovering Alex Marquez as the pair duked it out for 15th. Missing his first point as a Honda rider by under a second, Marini was again able to complete the full race distance to continue deepening his understanding of the Repsol Honda Team RC213V.
It would ultimately be another truncated race for Joan Mir, the #36 falling on lap nine as he worked to hunt down the group ahead of him. He was unharmed in the fall and content with the lap times he was setting immediately before the crash.
The Repsol Honda Team will now return home as they prepare for round four, the Gran Premio de España at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto.
Luca Marini
“I tried my best and fought for the last point hard. It was good to finish the race to get more data to the engineers. At this moment we are not in the correct place, and I think this is an important weekend for us. Now we can compare the data to this weekend and before and I hope that it can help us to keep improving. I think the direction is quite clear, we just need time.”
Joan Mir
“A tough end to a tough weekend. We didn’t start the race itself super well so we were quite far behind but then I found my pace and I was able to get ahead of the other Honda riders. I started closing in on the group ahead but unfortunately, I lost the rear at Turn Six and crashed. Not much more to add. Everyone is working, we keep trying and pick ourselves up to do it all again at the next race.”
Grand Prix of the Americas Results
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 25 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 41'09.503 |
| 2 | Acosta Pedro | 31 | SPA | 20 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM | 1.728 |
| 3 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 16 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 2.703 |
| 4 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 13 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 4.690 |
| 5 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | 11 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 7.392 |
| 6 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 10 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 9.980 |
| 7 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 9 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 12.208 |
| 8 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 8 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 13.343 |
| 9 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 7 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 14.931 |
| 10 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 6 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia | 16.656 |
| 11 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 5 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia | 18.542 |
| 12 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 4 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 22.899 |
| 13 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 3 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 24.011 |
| 14 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 2 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM | 27.652 |
| 15 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | 1 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 32.855 |
| 16 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 33.529 |
| 17 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | DNF | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | DNF |
| 18 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | DNF | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | DNF |
| 19 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | DNF | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | DNF |
| 20 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | DNF | Pramac Racing | Ducati | DNF |
| 21 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | DNF | LCR Honda | Honda | DNF |
| 22 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | DNF | LCR Honda | Honda | DNF |
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | 80 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 2 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | 59 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 3 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | 56 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 4 | Acosta Pedro | 31 | SPA | 54 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM |
| 5 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | 50 | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati |
| 6 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | 49 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 7 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | 39 | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia |
| 8 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | 36 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 9 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | 25 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 10 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | 22 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 11 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | 20 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati |
| 12 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | 19 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 13 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | 14 | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati |
| 14 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | 13 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia |
| 15 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | 7 | Trackhouse Racing | Aprilia |
| 16 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | 7 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 | KTM |
| 17 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | 7 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 18 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | 5 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 19 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | 3 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 20 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 2 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 21 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | 0 | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 22 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
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) |
