Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1105267
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 / APRIL 12-14, 2019 CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS P82 quez, Marini coming with him. But when the Speed Up got ahead, he was able to get clear. Meanwhile, Pasini was charging, and he was up to fourth on lap 16 and left Marquez and Marini to fend off the rapidly close Lowes on the last lap. Behind Corsi, also closing, rookie Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Kalex) took a third successive top ten, comfortably ahead of team- mate Andrea Locatelli in tenth. Remy Gardner (ONEXOX Kalex) got back to the head of a five-bike battle for 11th, finally squeezing past his teammate by three tenths. Bo Bendsneyder (RW NTS) came through for 13th, with Dominique Aegerter taking the new MV Agusta's first points wide. By contact under braking. Marquez was pursued by Luthi, whose first attempt to pass came on lap three. It was repulsed, but he kept trying, Schrotter on his heels and the trio pulling clear of Lowes, Navarro, and Marini. Luthi eventually succeeded on lap eight, and next time around set the fastest lap, still short of Morbidelli's Honda-powered record. Now it was clear that Marquez was having some tire problems. All the same his duel with Schrotter gave Luthi his chance to escape, and by lap 14 he was three seconds clear. Navarro's pace was improv- ing and his corner entry speed clearly better. He got to the lead of his trio and closed on Mar- of last season, was back as a substitute rider for injured Garcia in the Flexbox HP40 Kalex team. In his first time on a Triumph-pow- ered Moto2 bike, the 33-year-old Italian was better than two sec- onds clear of the fifth-place fight. Marquez, his tires sliding badly, had his hands full fending off Luca Marini (SKY VR46) and a hard-pushing Sam Lowes (Fed- eral Oils Kalex). Veteran Simone Corsi (Tasca Kalex) was a close eighth. With the grid mixed and some guesswork on settings and tires thanks to the loss of free practice time, the race had a dramatic start. Fancied runner Xavi Vierge (EG VDS Kalex) was mired in 20th on the grid, and caught up in a three-bike first-corner tangle, with rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio (Speed Up) and American Rac- ing's Joe Roberts also down and out. Further around the same lap, double 2019 winner Lorenzo Bal- dassarri (Flexbox HP40 Kalex), who had qualified 15th, found himself behind Jorge Martin's Red Bull KTM as the rookie battled a major tank-slapper. Bal- dassarri was unable to avoid the KTM and crashed out. Australian Remy Gardner (ONEXOX Kalex) was also pushed wide. Up front, pole starter Schrot- ter ran wide into the first corner, letting second starter Marquez through and foiling his own plans for a runaway. Sam Lowes (Fed- eral Oils Kalex), the third man on the front row, was also pushed