ROUND 15 / OCTOBER 1-3, 2021
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS
P60
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
well, but the two-time MotoGP
winner showed his mettle, me-
thodically working through the
pack to claim a vital third and
keep his title aspirations alive.
Winner of the last Austin
MotoGP in 2019, Alex Rins was
never really in the hunt for vic-
tory this time out but worked his
way past Martin to take third,
with Martin an excellent fourth
on his COTA MotoGP debut.
It was all action behind
Martin on the final lap as then
sixth-placed Miller was punted
out of the way by current World
Champion Joan Mir at turn 15,
the Aussie and the Spaniard
both dropping behind the ultra-
impressive Enea Bastianini (Es-
ponsarama Ducati) who would
go on to take sixth at the flag.
Miller was none too happy
about Mir's move, gesticulating
aggressively at the Spaniard on
the cool-down lap. As it turns
out, the stewards agreed with
him, demoting Mir one posi-
tion and ensuring Miller took
seventh, Mir eighth.
Behind Mir, Brad Binder
(Red Bull KTM) cleared away
from Repsol Honda's Pol
Espargaro, with Miguel Oliveira
(Red Bull KTM), Alex Marquez,
(LCR Castrol Honda), Andrea
Dovizioso (Petronas Yamaha)
Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Ducati)
and Valentino Rossi rounding
out his final race in America
with the last point in 15th.
The title race is now firmly
TIRE ISSUES
SURFACE AGAIN
Not for the first time in 2021, Mi-
chelin's quality control was called into
question. This time it was Jack Miller
who suffered from a puzzling lack of
grip in an underwhelming qualifying
attack, which led to a disappointing
10th position. "It's happened a few
times and I can tell you one thing: I am
getting f---ing sick of it anyway," Miller
fumed. "It is what it is. We go forward
and hopefully it doesn't happen tomor-
row. I'm trying my best, keeping calm,
trying to do my job, working for the
race. What's in my control I'm trying to
do the best I can." On this occasion,
Michelin pointed to the excessive time
Miller took to complete his out lap be-
fore his final qualifying as the reason
for the sub-optimal performance.
Briefly...
Valentino Rossi (46) and Danilo
Petrucci (9) rounded out their final
MotoGP races in America with 15th
and 18th places, respectively.
