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Marc Marquez dominates Austin MotoGP again in crash-strewn race

Honda's Marc Marquez maintained his perfect MotoGP record in the United States, with his second victory of the 2016 season at Austin

Marquez won the three previous MotoGP races at the Circuit of the Americas, as part of a haul of seven wins from seven races in the US, along with two from two in Moto2.

From his fourth consecutive pole position at Austin, Marquez was never challenged after securing the lead from Jorge Lorenzo - who led into Turns 1 and 11 only to overshoot each time - on the first lap.

Lorenzo dropped behind Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, and while he made it past on lap five, Marquez was already two seconds clear.

Marquez was relentless at the front, his margin eight seconds before backing off on the final lap, while Lorenzo settled for second, having crashed out of the race in Argentina last weekend.

With his 26th MotoGP victory, Marquez extends his championship lead to 21 points over Lorenzo.

The first half of the race was littered with incidents, before proceedings settled down.

Valentino Rossi was never a factor, falling to sixth place from the front row of the grid, before crashing at Turn 2 on just the third lap.

Rossi had been fighting with Dani Pedrosa, who caught Dovizioso, only to lose the front end of his Honda at Turn 1 under braking.

His bike cannoned into Dovizioso, who was eliminated from a race while in a podium position for the second time in seven days, while Pedrosa got back on but eventually retired.

That all helped Andrea Iannone bounce back from colliding with team-mate Dovizioso in Argentina with third place, his first podium and indeed race finish since the Australian Grand Prix last October.

Maverick Vinales lost ground on the first lap, falling from the second row to 10th, but aided by those incidents worked his way back to fourth, after passing Suzuki team-mate Aleix Espargaro, who flew early.

With a quiet sixth place, Scott Redding was the leading satellite rider and secured his best result in a dry MotoGP race.

Cal Crutchlow was fighting Redding for the position, but fell at Turn 11 on lap eight.

That prompted a fall from Bradley Smith behind him on the road, and while the pair did rejoin the race they finished well down the order.

With Crutchlow 16th and Smith 17th, the latter's run of 26 consecutive point finishes came to an end.

RESULTS - 21 LAPS

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap
1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 43m57.945s
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 6.107s
3 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 10.947s
4 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 18.422s
5 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 20.711s
6 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati Ducati 28.961s
7 Pol Espargaro Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 32.112s
8 Michele Pirro Pramac Ducati Ducati 32.757s
9 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati Ducati 34.592s
10 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Aprilia 40.211s
11 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Aprilia 45.423s
12 Eugene Laverty Aspar Ducati Ducati 47.127s
13 Tito Rabat Marc VDS Honda Honda 47.426s
14 Yonny Hernandez Aspar Ducati Ducati 51.190s
15 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m12.929s
16 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 1m19.252s
17 Bradley Smith Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m28.036s
- Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda Crash
- Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati Crash
- Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha Crash
- Jack Miller Marc VDS Honda Honda Withdrawn

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Pos Rider Points
1 Marc Marquez 66
2 Jorge Lorenzo 45
3 Valentino Rossi 33
4 Pol Espargaro 28
5 Dani Pedrosa 27
6 Hector Barbera 25
7 Andrea Dovizioso 23
8 Maverick Vinales 23
9 Eugene Laverty 21
10 Aleix Espargaro 21
11 Andrea Iannone 16
12 Scott Redding 16
13 Bradley Smith 16
14 Stefan Bradl 15
15 Alvaro Bautista 14
16 Michele Pirro 12
17 Tito Rabat 11
18 Yonny Hernandez 2
18 Jack Miller 2
20 Loris Baz 1


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