MotoGP Austin: Race preview

MotoGP saddles up in Texas as Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez returns to the fold with a nearly unbeaten record at Circuit of the Americas.

The wait is over and we have the answer: the King of COTA is on his way. Marquez will be back in action at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, ready to rodeo and recovered from his Indonesian GP crash. For the rest of the grid, that could spell a very different weekend ahead as the number 93 has only once failed to win at the venue in MotoGP. It staged his rookie win, he was undefeated until crashing out in 2019, and he’s qualified on pole at the venue for every single event since 2013 – except last year. But then, last year he still went on to win by some margin. He remains, then, the favourite… but there’s plenty more to talk about too.

First mention has to go to Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia. There was only one factory on the grid who hadn’t won in MotoGP and one rider who had never taken a Grand Prix win in any class, so it was a truly historic feat for man and machine. It was also – stats and grand narratives aside – just an objectively very impressive performance. Few could go with the number 41 out front, with only Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin in the battle and Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins and Joan Mir shadowing the duel. Aprilia teammate Maverick Viñales also took his best result since moving to the factory by far in seventh, so the question now is… what do the Noale factory have in the locker for Texas?

Suzuki, too, will be interesting – Rins arrives not only fresh from the podium but also as the only non-MM93 winner at the track. Ever. Can he bridge that gap that kept him just outside striking distance in Termas? His teammate, 2020 MotoGP Champion Mir, will also be looking