The MotoGP racers head “overseas” (outside of Europe) again this weekend to tackle the third round of the 2024 MotoGP season, the Americas GP, scheduled for the Circuit of The Americas in Texas.
The track, located near the city of Austin, has been on the calendar since 2013 and this year represents the 11th time this circuit will host a MotoGP Grand Prix.
At COTA, Ducati has scored eight podiums so far, while it has only triumphed on one occasion in 2022 with Enea Bastianini.
For the Ducati Lenovo Team rider, who was competing for the Gresini Racing MotoGP team at that time, it was his second success in the premier class.
Fellow Ducati rider Jorge Martin (pictured here), from Spain, riding for the Prima Pramac Ducati Team, currently leads the standings, with South African Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory) second, 18 points behind, Bastianini is third overall and defending world champion Francesco Bagnaia fourth in the series standings after two rounds thus far.
Fresh off a solid weekend at round two in Portugal, which saw Bastianini take pole position on Saturday and second place in Sunday’s GP, the Italian rider arrives in America keen to maintain momentum.
On the other side of the garage, it’s redemption time for team-mate Bagnaia.
Forced to retire in Portugal following a collision, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider had been one of the main protagonists in last year’s Grand Prix of the Americas, setting the pole position and winning the Sprint race.
However, he narrowly missed out on the GP victory, as he crashed out of the lead. Bagnaia arrives in the United States motivated to return fighting for victory.
This is what 2023 and 2023 world champion Bagnaia had to say ahead of the weekend’s racing:
“The Grand Prix of the Americas is one of my favourites on the calendar: the track is fantastic, I enjoy Austin a lot, and even the event’s atmosphere is different.
“I arrive in America motivated and ready to redeem myself: last year, we were competitive all weekend, and if I hadn’t crashed, we would have won the Sunday race too. I expect many fast riders this year, and it definitely will be challenging, but we have a good base from which to start.
“In the last GP in Portugal, the feeling with the bike was very good, but then, in the race on Sunday, we missed something. So, working to avoid that happening again will be important.”
The MotoGP race is scheduled to kick off at 7am, Monday morning, NZ time and can be watched on TV3 Plus and later on demand.
Circuit Information:
Country: United States
Name: Circuit Of The Americas
Best Lap: Rins (Honda) 2:03.126 (161.1 km/h) – 2023
Circuit Record: Bagnaia (Ducati), 2:01.892 (162,8 km/h) – 2023
Top Speed: Viñales (Aprilia), 356,4 km/h – 2023
Track Length: 5.51 km
Sprint Race Distance: 10 laps (55.10 km)
Race Distance: 20 laps (110.2 km)
Corners: 20 (11 left, 9 right)
Photo courtesy Gold And Goose
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MotoGP World Championship standings after round 2:
| 1 Jorge Martin, Prima Pramac Racing (GP24) 60.00 points
2 Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 42.00 3 Enea Bastianini, Ducati Lenovo Team (GP24) 39.00 4 Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Lenovo Team (GP24) 37.00 5 Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) 28.00 6 Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP23) 27.00 7 Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) 25.00 8 Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) 19.00 9 Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 16.00 10 Fabio di Giannantonio, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing (GP23) 15.00 10 Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 15.00 12 Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP23) 13.00 13 Marco Bezzecchi, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing (GP23) 12.00 14 Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing (RS-GP24) 8.00 15 Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 7.00 16 Johann Zarco, CASTROL Honda LCR (RC213V) 5.00 17 Alex Rins, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 3.00 18 Takaaki Nakagami, IDEMITSU Honda LCR (RC213V) 2.00 19 Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing (RS-GP23) 0.00 19 Luca Marini, Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 0.00 19 Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) 0.00 19 Franco Morbidelli, Prima Pramac Racing (GP24) 0.00
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