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/972780
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 / APRIL 20-22, 2018 CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS P70 Moto2 1. Francesco Bagnaia (Kal) 2. Alex Marquez (Kal) 3. Miguel Oliveira (KTM) 4. Joan Mir (Kal) 5. Iker Lecuona (KTM) Moto3 1. Jorge Martin (Hon) 2. Enea Bastianini (Hon) 3. Marco Bezzecchi (KTM) 4. Andrea Migno (KTM) 5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Hon) was not seriously threatened again, edging away to start the final lap with just over a second in hand. By now Bastianini had es- caped from the battle for third. This intensified throughout the lap, with Oettl making a convincing attack at the end of the back straight only to be blocked when an over-enthusi- astic move by Di Giannantonio pushed him wide. This let Bezzecchi take third, by inches from Migno, then Di Giannantonio and Oettl, third to sixth within less than three tenths. Moto3 veteran Jakub Korn- feil (Redox KTM) was off the back by a second for seventh; and Canet well out of touch in a disappointed eighth, hold- ing off Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Honda) and Livio Loi (Avintia KTM) in a still intense top ten. Nico Antonelli (Honda) crashed out on the first lap; while Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA KTM) recovered to 12th after being tied up in a four-rider first- corner melee. A second win returned Martin to the top of the title charts, 55 points to Canet's 48; then Bez- zecchi (43), Di Giannantonio (37) and Bastianini (33). CN MotoGP 1. Marc Marquez (Hon) 2. Maverick Vinales (Yam) 3. Andrea Iannone (Suz) 4. Valentino Rossi (Yam) 5. Johann Zarco (Yam) seven, suffering a suspected bro- ken collarbone. Danny Kent and Stefano Manzi also crashed out. Bagnaia (57) regained the points lead from Pasini (47), with Marquez also on 47, then Olivei- ra (43) and Baldassarri (39). Moto3 Sunny skies and a first-corner melee marked the start of the first race of the day. A masterful display marked the end, from Qatar winner Jorge Martin (Del Conca Honda). He ran with the front group throughout, then timed his run perfect with five of the long laps to go to win by just over a second. The front group had still been 12 strong at half distance, with early single-lap leader Dennis Foggia (SKY VR46 KTM rookie) soon to drop off the back of it, and the lead disputed between Argentine GP winner Marco Bezzecchi (Re- dox KTM) and Fabio Di Giannan- tonio (Del Conca Honda). Martin was always there, also Enea Bastianini (Leopard Honda) and Philipp Oettl (Sudmetal KTM), with Andrea Migno (Nieto KTM) coming through from be- hind, and erstwhile title leader Aron Canet (EG Honda)—the only rider to risk a soft tire—bat- tling to stay with them. Positions changed constantly, especially at the end of the long straight and the subsequent slower swerves. Martin had led the first lap. He took to the front for a second and final time on lap 12, and Malaysia—he was given a back-of-the- grid start at the next race. Marquez remained silent on the Rossi incident in Texas, but at the time explained that he had been caught out by the very difficult mixed wet-dry conditions at the Argentine track, where he was not the only rider in that position. Zarco had an almost identical incident on the same corner on the first lap, knocking Pedrosa flying. ON THE MEND Dani Pedrosa returned to the track 12 days after a punt-off from Zarco left him with a fractured right wrist— he underwent surgery directly after returning from Argentina. He said before the race, "This is a tough track, and I'm struggling a lot doing almost everything here, especially in changes of direction and on braking. The pain is what I expected, but I hoped to have more strength." Briefly...