REPORT: ‘Batmav’ returns to the top in Texas classic
Matt Clayton
Monday, 15 April 2024
Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales converted pole to victory in the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday, but it was far from a straightforward march to MotoGP™ history for the Spaniard after a dramatic 20 laps in Austin.
Maverick Vinales created a slice of history in Sunday’s Grand Prix of the Americas, the Spaniard becoming the first rider in the MotoGP™ era to win Grands Prix with three different manufacturers with a barnstorming comeback to victory for Aprilia in Texas.
Vinales, the winner of the 10-lap Saturday sprint, was elbowed back from pole position to 11th place on lap one at the Circuit of the Americas, a clutch issue causing a poor getaway before he was squeezed at the first corner by Pecco Bagnaia’s Ducati, which checked up to take avoiding action from fellow Ducati rider Jorge Martin.
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Vinales regrouped and began to scythe his way through the field as an intense battle at the front saw the pack bunched up for the first half of the race, and jumped up to second on lap 11 after Ducati’s Marc Marquez, who had just taken the race lead, dramatically crashed out at Turn 11.
Vinales then overtook rookie sensation Pedro Acosta (GasGas) on lap 13 and put the hammer down, setting the fastest lap of the race on the next lap (2mins 02.575secs) to ease to victory by 1.728secs, snapping Ducati’s 11-race winning run dating back to last season.
Sunday’s victory for Aprilia added to Vinales’ 2016 British Grand Prix win for Suzuki, and his eight victories for Yamaha from 2017-21.
Behind the dominant Aprilia rider, there were stories up and down the grid on a dramatic Sunday afternoon in Austin.
Acosta became the youngest rider to take back-to-back podium finishes with a stunning second after leading for six of the 20 laps, the result from second on the grid coming one race after the 19-year-old finished third in Portugal last time out.
Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, the 2022 winner in Texas, unleashed one of his trademark late-race surges to finish third, passing Martin on the penultimate lap and denying the Spaniard a fourth straight Grand Prix podium to start the season.
Martin, though, extended his championship lead to 21 points after a quiet weekend for KTM’s Brad Binder, his nearest title rival after Portugal; the South African finished ninth after qualifying way back in 17th place.
It was worse for Binder’s teammate Jack Miller, who made an extraordinary start to sit third after one lap, but sunk like a stone in the second half of the race to finish 13th, bemoaning tyre troubles after the race.
The Australian made contact with Marquez on lap two as they disputed fourth place, Marquez’s bike losing its left sidepod as the pair came to blows coming out of Turn 11.
Surprise packet
Acosta finishing on the podium is clearly no longer a shock, so we’ll run with Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez, who came to Trackhouse Racing’s first home Grand Prix without a single point this season before taking surprise top-10 results in the Sprint and Grand Prix proper.
The Spaniard, the 2021 Moto2™ runner-up to Australia’s Remy Gardner who has just one top-five result in his premier-class career, missed Q2 on Saturday before moving forward in both races from 13th on the grid, finishing ninth for the final points in the Sprint and ending up 10th in the main race, 16secs behind stablemate Vinales to vault seven places in the championship standings.
Number to know
1113: In days, the time between Vinales’ previous Grand Prix win (Qatar 2021 for Yamaha) and Sunday in Texas.
I feel like I am in Gotham City! Closing this circle, it’s fantastic. It’s been some long nights thinking what I have to do to be back to win races, and finally I did. To arrive to the top with Aprilia, it’s a dream.
Americas Motorcycle Grand Prix: top 10
- Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) 41mins 09.503secs
- Pedro Acosta (GasGas) +1.728secs
- Enea Bastianini (Ducati) +2.703secs
- Jorge Martin (Ducati) +4.690secs
- Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +7.392secs
- Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) +9.980secs
- Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) +12.208secs
- Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) +13.343secs
- Brad Binder (KTM) +14.931secs
- Raul Fernandez (Aprilia) +16.656secs
Riders' championship standings (top 5)
- Jorge Martin (Ducati) 80 points
- Enea Bastianini (Ducati) 59
- Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) 56
- Pedro Acosta (GasGas) 54
- Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) 50
What's next?
Round 4: Spain (Jerez), Apr 26-28
