Marc Marquez goes wire-to-wire to win MotoGP at Austin

2 Comments

In the land of Longhorns, Spanish rider Marc Marquez hooked ’em again at the Circuit of the Americas.

The reigning MotoGP world champion won for the second year in a row at the immaculate Texas road course, dusting Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, third-place Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso, and everybody else in today’s Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.

A last-lap bobble going into the final corner added a brief jolt of drama, but Marquez quickly got his Honda under control and went on to the checkered flag.

He beat Pedrosa to the stripe by 4.1 seconds, while Dovizioso was a very distant third at 20.9 seconds off the pace.

“I didn’t expect to lead all the laps in the race,” Marquez said after the race to Fox Sports. “I had a good start – my first good start in MotoGP [grins] – and then I started to push…I saw that I opened a gap and while I think the show for this race was not so good, that 25 points is important.”

Pedrosa on the other hand found himself losing, by his estimation, two to three-tenths a lap to his fellow Spaniard and eventually just focused on maintaining second.

“I had no other places to recover the gap,” he said. “Every lap, I lost a little, so finally, there was a point where there was nothing to win up front…I just tried to keep my pace and get on the podium.”

Honda rider Stefan Bradl duked it out late with Yamaha rider Bradley Smith for fourth position, but the German ultimately got the better of the Englishman for that spot.

As for the two American competitors, Nicky Hayden finished just outside of the Top 10 in 11th position while “Texas Tornado” Colin Edwards was forced to retire from the race before the checkered flag.

Marquez now holds a 14 point lead in the championship over Pedrosa after two races, both of which he’s won. Valentino Rossi sits third at 22 points back after an eighth-place finish this afternoon.

MotoGP will return to action in two weeks at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina.

Seattle Supercross by the numbers: Three riders separated by 17 points

0 Comments

Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.

Seattle Supercross numbers
Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports

For the fifth time in 10 rounds. Sexton, Webb, and Eli Tomac shared the podium in Detroit. Between them, the trio has taken 23 podiums, leaving only seven for the remainder of the field. Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia have two each with Aaron Plessinger scoring the other.

Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.

Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.

Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.

The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.

In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.

Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.

Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.

Last Five Seattle Winners

450s
2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto

250s
2022: Hunter Lawrence
2019: Dylan Ferrandis
2018: Aaron Plessinger
2017: Aaron Plessinger
2014: Cole Seely

By the Numbers

Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego

More SuperMotocross coverage

How to Watch Seattle Supercross
Dylan Ferrandis may return before SX finale
SMX develops “Leader Lights”
Power Rankings after Detroit
Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan
Results and points after Detroit
Chase Sexton wins in Detroit, penalized seven points