BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
S
hould one always expect the unex-
pected? It certainly would have helped
in Austin. On a weekend when terrible
weather cut free practice and left everyone
guessing somewhat on tire choice and bike
settings, the best-laid plans went right out of
the window, and all predictions went crazy.
After all, nobody went there expecting Alex
Rins and the out-powered Suzuki to win, on a
track with the longest straight of the year.
And certainly, nobody expected the natural
King of COTA, Marc Marquez, on target for a
seventh successive GP of the Americas win
from a seventh consecutive pole position to
suddenly turn from flawless god of speed into
a normal human being. But that's what he did,
throwing away a 3.6-second lead, then falling
off the side of his bike again after failing to
restart it.
The
King Has
Fallen
The 2019 U.S. MotoGP
will forever be known
as the time Marc
Marquez was finally
stopped on American
soil for the first time in
his entire professional
racing career—by Marc
Marquez himself.
Alex Rins showed brilliant race
craft to outfox Valentino Rossi to
take his first-ever MotoGP win.
VOL. 56 ISSUE 15 APRIL 16, 2019 P73
