ROUND 3 / APRIL 12-14, 2024
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P98
11, with Lopez fifth.
Garcia (51 points) now leads
the standings with Roberts (49)
just two points back.
Moto3
David Alonso (Aspar CFMoto)
cruised to a second win in round
three, and topped every session
in the weekend, to strengthen
his title credentials while several
of his rivals imploded. Yet not
even the Colombian's five-sec
-
ond victory could take attention
away from
rookie sensation An-
gel Piqueras (Leopard Honda),
who
claimed a stunning maiden
podium in just his third race
after qualifying 18th.
As impressive as Alonso's vic
-
tory was, there can be no doubt-
ing he received several helping
hands.
First, the opening-lap
trans Kalex) and Alonso Lopez
(SpeedUp Boscoscuro) slot
-
ting in behind. As the recover-
ing Aldeguer took over from
Jake Dixon
(Aspar Kalex), who
crashed out on lap five, the lead
pack was slowly stretched apart
by Garcia's unerring pace.
Yet the Spaniard showed
a first crack on lap 12, as he
outbraked himself entering turn
11, allowing Roberts to reduce
his lead from 2.8 seconds to 1.3
seconds. Then the American
suffered a similar fate the fol
-
lowing lap, hitting a false neutral
at turn 12,
handing a second
back to the leader. Undeterred,
Roberts continued to reel Gar-
cia in but just ran out of laps,
coming
home four-tenths of a
second back. Aldeguer got the
better of Foggia for third on lap
Moto2
There was almost a maiden
home triumph on American soil
for the first time since Nicky
Hayden's 2006 Laguna Seca
win. But Sergio Garcia (MSI Bos-
coscuro) did just enough to hold
off
Joe Roberts (ART Kalex) in a
tense late fight, which saw pre-
race favorite Fermin Aldeguer
(SpeedUp Boscoscuro)
finish
third.
Aldeguer and Aron Canet
(Fantic Kalex) were clear pre-
race favorites thanks to qualify
-
ing second and first. Yet both
men found themselves seventh
and 10th, respectively, thanks
to poor getaways and getting
boxed in at turn one. Instead,
Garcia took up the early run
-
ning from third on the grid, with
Roberts,
Dennis Foggia (Ital-
Joe Roberts came oh-so-close
to winning on home soil.
