exiting the final corner, causing his left
front aero pod to come off. Bastianini
held a watching brief just behind.
Martin finally made a move stick on
Acosta on the turn nine cutback the
VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P95
HONDA FLAILING
Even in their worst seasons,
Honda could count on success at
the Circuit of the Americas. But
the Sprint race underlined their
current predicament with Luca
Marini, the lone HRC finisher in
17th, 22 seconds off the victor.
Teammate Joan Mir feels the
RC213V has lost its one strong
point of the past. "We are very,
very far," Mir said. "This is a track
that this bike has something
positive in the past, last year, and
now we don't have any positive.
Last year, it was a bike that was
stopping, and with brakes, you
were able to turn. Then we re-
quest too much on this good part
and then start the crashes.
"But now you can't make the dif-
ference even there. So, we are
a bit lost because we don't have
an advantage in any area, at the
moment."
FABIO EXTENDS
It was announced the week
before the GP of the Americas
that Fabio Quartararo has signed
to stay with Yamaha beyond this
year through 2025 and 2026.
Aside from a contract rumored to
be worth a hefty $12 million per
year, the Frenchman revealed
"confidential" plans to get Ya-
maha back on track were behind
his decision. "There are some
really interesting things that are
still confidential to Yamaha in the
works," he said. "New people are
joining, and the project is going
to be huge. So, the decision was
made in Portugal. "What really
[made me] want to stay was the
way we totally changed the way
of work. Already from testing
in Malaysia, something was
Briefly...
(Above) The GP didn't end
the way Marc Marquez had
hoped. The "King of COTA"
crashed out while leading.
(Below) Sergio Garcia held
on to win Moto2.
