MotoGP Austin race
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Thanks for tuning in, we'll catch you in a fortnight for the first European race on the calendar, at Jerez.
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“It looked easy but it was not like this,” Marquez says. “In the beginning, I tried to stay calm with the hard front tyre. I didn’t know the feeling, as I didn’t use it since Friday. I saw a little bit that there was chatter at the front, but I was able to be consistent until the end, and when I opened three seconds [lead] I started to manage the distance. After Argentina [the championship lead] looked really far, but now we are in there again.”
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“It was a very difficult race, I was able to stay close to the Hondas,” Rossi says. “Sometimes I lost the grip but I could stay more or less because, I had some points of the track I was very strong. [Late in the race] I was on the limit with the front tyre, but I also saw Dani on the limit, so I pushed.”
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“I’m quite happy with the riding,” Pedrosa says. “At the end, when I was in second, the front tyre, the right side was completely gone and I was about to crash, so I tried to save the race. We made quite a big step and we hope we can repeat this in the next races.”
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And that's Pedrosa's first podium since he won at Misano last September. He did miss a string of races due to injury after that, you might recall.
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Rossi leads the championship by six points over Vinales now, with Marquez moving up five places to third, a further 12 points behind.
That's nine MotoGP victories in the land of the free for Marquez, who before today hadn't won since he sealed the 2016 title at Motegi last October.
Dovizioso finishes a lonely sixth, ahead of Iannone, Petrucci, Lorenzo and Miller completing the top 10. Folger, Redding, Rabat, Barbera and Bautista also pick up points.
Pedrosa comes home third, 2.343s behind Rossi so that penalty doesn't matter. Then it's Crutchlow in fourth ahead of Zarco.
Rossi finishes second, 2.769s behind and finishes the flyaway races at the championship leader. Who would have picked that during pre-season testing?
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Marquez wins. It's his first victory of the season, and fifth at Austin in five starts.
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Rossi is 1.8s clear of Pedrosa, that penalty is going to be immaterial.
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Last lap for Marquez, he's the best part of four seconds ahead.
Crutchlow has made a move stick to pass Zarco for fourth place. Strong pass down the inside at Turn 12, Zarco responds at Turn 13 but runs wide.
Petrucci grabs another place, passing Lorenzo for ninth.
Rossi still has to add a 0.3s penalty to his time, but he is skipping away from Pedrosa nicely already. He's 0.744s up already.
Rossi puts a move on Pedrosa down the inside of Turn 19. He takes second place.
Rossi is still right behind Pedrosa as the laps wind down.
Iannone takes seventh with a move on Lorenzo. He would have enjoyed that. Petrucci has picked up another spot, passing Miller for 10th.
Bautista is now into 15th, past Smith who would seem to have a problem with his KTM.
Petrucci passes Folger for 10th, Rabat gets Barbera for 13th but is quickly repassed.
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Sorry, KTM fans, Smith is going to lose 15th and the final point before too long. He's lapping in the 2m09s and Bautista is in the 2m06s. Bautista is now just 1.4s behind.
Another battle that is Crutchlow is now right behind Zarco as well. Keep an eye on that battle.
Smith, though, isn't lapping particularly quickly on his KTM, and could come under threat by Bautista, who crashed earlier, in the next five laps.
Miller is still ninth from Folger, while Petrucci, Redding, Barbera, Rabat and Smith are on for the last of the points.
Marquez drops 0.5s off his pace that last time around, but he was still nearly a whole second quicker than Pedrosa. The gap is up to 3.252s.
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Nice little subplot here, Iannone looking to replace the man who replaced him at Ducati, Lorenzo. They are contesting seventh and eighth.
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Another new fastest lap for Marquez, a 2m04.899s. He's 2.244s with six laps to go.
Pedrosa is now 1.835s behind Marquez, with Rossi 0.739s back from the second of the Hondas. Could Rossi mount a challenge for second? He will have 0.3s added to his race time at the end, after being deemed to have gained an advantage running wide to avoid Zarco earlier.
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By: Mitchell Adam
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