ROUND 15 / OCTOBER 1-3, 2021
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS
P56
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
T
he return of MotoGP action to Aus-
tin was billed as the first time Marc
Marquez (Repsol Honda) could be
beaten in a straight fight at the venue he's
called his own for so many years. In the
end, Captain America was simply unstop-
pable on the incredibly bumpy 3.4-mile
Texan venue, hitting the front after quali-
fying third on the grid behind pole sitter
Francesco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) and
championship leader Fabio Quartararo
(Monster Energy Yamaha).
Try as they might, no one could hold
a candle to Marquez and the blistering
speed of the Repsol Honda, his seventh
win at the venue coming in the same
dominating fashion as his 2017 and 2016
wins, as he held the field at will, stretch-
ing his advantage to 4.679 seconds at
the flag, although in truth the result never
looked in doubt after about lap four.
"It was a perfect race, the one that I
dreamed of last night," Marquez said.
"It is true that my plan was to try to lead
the race from the beginning because the
first laps were my weak points and then I
tried to slow the race from the first four or
five laps, and then when I felt okay, I just
pushed.
"It was one shot, strong, from one lap
to another one, half a second faster, and
this was one of the main reasons to be
able to open a gap. I am happy, really
happy, because it has been a very hard
season and sometimes, I crash and I
don't understand, and sometimes I am
fast and I don't understand, and some-
times I am slow and I don't understand.
But this victory, I was looking for because
THREE YEARS
SINCE HIS LAST
VICTORY AT
THE VENUE,
MARC MARQUEZ
REMINDED
EVERYONE WHO'S
THE KING OF
COTA WITH A
DOMINATING
PERFORMANCE
REMINISCENT OF
HIS GLORY YEARS
BY
RENNIE
SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
BY
RENNIE
SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
CAPTAIN CAPTAIN
RETURNS
