Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 / APRIL 12-14, 2019 CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS P78 your faith.' In the last laps I was riding well—then I made a mis- take at Turn 11 [before the long straight], and I thought I had lost it. But Valentino also went wide. "In the last lap, I put away all my nerves, then I crossed the finish line, all my emotions exploded," said Rins. He had managed to stay ahead by 0.462 of a second. Rossi was warm in congratula- tion. "I am very, very sorry be- cause when I saw Marc crash, I thought today was a good chance for me to win. But I tried every- thing, did a good race, and in the last laps, Rins was a bit better than me. So, mixed feelings, but it is good for the championship, and the bike is improving." This was not the only point of interest. Dovizioso had failed to get through from Q1, and was on the fifth row—but a blazing start and a forceful first lap meant he finished it up from 13th to sixth, the first nine or 10 laps, but then I started having a lot of moments." But Rins, one of only three other riders on the soft front, had the sweet, well-balanced Suzuki chassis beneath him, and wasn't having trouble. He'd got inside Miller on the same lap as Mar- quez crashed. At this point, he was just over a second behind Rossi, but next time around, he'd halved it. The Yamaha historically has been weaker as race distance wears on, while the Suzuki gets stron- ger. But would it be enough for a relative beginner to take on the masterful veteran? The question remained open, even after Rins slipped past with four laps to go, because even if he was having a visibly easier time than Rossi, the older rider's race- craft is legendary, and he never gives up. "When I was behind Valentino, I was telling myself: 'Never lose was riding very smooth, trying to save the front tire," Marquez said. "Looking at the data, it was very similar to the previous lap, but somehow I did a big mistake. I'm disappointed, but it can happen. The season is long—will arrive more mistakes, maybe from me, maybe from others." It certainly quickened the inter- est in what had, until then, been a somewhat processional race. Second-fastest qualifier Rossi was at this point looking quite comfortable. Crutchlow (third man on the front row) had been push- ing hard but had slid off behind him three laps earlier, also losing the front under braking. Top Ducati Jack Miller, who had started well from the second row, was having trouble hang- ing on. His choice of a soft front tire, prompted (he explained) by a shortage of data because of losing Saturday's FP3 and the damp-starting FP4, "was great for Rins about to hunt down Jack Miller at the halfway point of the race. It's becoming a season to forget for Jorge Lorenzo and Repsol Honda. This race ended in a mechanical DNF.