The King of COTA is back!
After losing his crown in 2019, Marc Marquez returned to winning ways in the United States thanks to a dominant performance, and one that not many people expected round such a physical circuit.
It was also a very significant weekend in the championship, Fabio Quartararo giving himself his first chance to win the title at Misano in three weeks’ time.
1st. Marc Marquez – 10
What a performance from Marc Marquez.
The Spaniard proved that you should never doubt him as he controlled proceedings in Austin to take his second win since returning from injury.
Unlike Sachsenring, however, this victory came at a physically demanding circuit for Marquez’s right arm.
It was therefore a performance that bodes well for next season, both for Marquez and for the prospect of a championship battle between him and Fabio Quartararo.
2nd. Fabio Quartararo – 9.5
Fabio Quartararo called his second place in Texas “better than a race win.”
It is not hard to see why.
Struggling with jet lag and the bumpy track surface, the Frenchman did superbly to qualify second and then comfortably stay there in the race, also finishing 11 places above the next best placed Yamaha.
Moreover, by beating Pecco Bagnaia, his last remaining championship rival, Quartararo extended his championship lead to 52 points, giving him the chance to wrap up the title at the next race in Misano.
He is almost there.
3rd. Pecco Bagnaia – 9
Despite starting on pole for the third consecutive race, third was probably the maximum Pecco Bagnaia could have achieved at COTA.
Only 9th fastest after the combined free practice times, the Italian’s pole lap, while magnificent, was an anomaly, helped in large part by Jack Miller showing him where to gain time.
After falling back to 6th during the opening laps, however, Bagnaia did well to recover onto the podium, a good result even if it was one he wasn’t after.
4th. Alex Rins – 9
Incredibly, this was Alex Rins’ joint second-best result of the season, only bettered by his second place in Silverstone and matching his 4th place achieved at the second round in Doha.
The winner at COTA the last time MotoGP visited in 2019, the Spaniard showed solid pace to pass throughout the race, before passing Jorge Martin for 4th on the final lap.
5th. Jorge Martin – 8.5
Did Jorge Martin genuinely make a mistake at the end of sector 1, or did he drive off track to allow the sister Ducati of Bagnaia to close?
Either way, he probably didn’t deserve the long lap penalty that he received, a punishment that also cost him 4th place on the final lap.
Prior to that, Martin had ridden very well, comfortably sitting in third place for most of the race until Bagnaia overtook him three laps from the end in what also looked like a suspiciously easy pass.
6th. Enea Bastianini – 9
Are there any riders on the grid performing better than Enea Bastinaini currently is?
If there are, there can’t be many.
The Italian has found a rich vein of form, backing up his podium in Misano with his third consecutive top six finish.
It was handed to him on a plate after Joan Mir bumped Jack Miller out of the way on the final lap. Still, an 8th place finish would also have been a great result, especially after starting down in 16th, the one blot on an otherwise strong showing.
7th. Jack Miller – 6.5
A case of what might have been for Jack Miller.
Fastest all weekend until qualifying, the Australian blamed problems with Michelin’s soft rear tyre for his sudden loss of pace.
Even starting from 10th, though, he had Marc Marquez worried, the Spaniard calling Miller a dark horse for the race such was the pace he had shown in practice.
The only rider to opt for the hard rear tyre, it looked as though Marquez’s prediction would ring true, Miller up to 4th after a strong start.
He fell away in the second half of the race, however, falling back to 6th before losing another place on the final lap thanks to Joan Mir, the Suzuki rider bumping Miller out of the way on the final lap for the second consecutive race.
8th. Joan Mir – 6
Joan Mir’s 8th place finish means he can no longer mathematically retain his title.
One of the most vocal against the state of the track surface, the Spaniard had to come through Q1, where he showed good pace for the first time all weekend.
For once, his race pace let him down though, before another ill-judged move on Jack Miller on the final lap cost him 7th, the 24-year-old being hit with a penalty that dropped him behind the Australian.
9th. Brad Binder – 7.5
Another weekend, another solid race for Brad Binder.
His sixth consecutive top 10 finish, the South African was the fastest KTM all weekend, making it straight through to Q2 thanks to his pace in practice before improving further in the race.
10th. Pol Espargaro – 7
With most of the focus on his teammate at the front of the grid, Pol Espargaro had a rather quiet weekend.
Making it through to Q2 but only qualifying in 12th, he made up two positions thanks to Johann Zarco and Taka Nakagami crashing in front of him.
Still, he fared much better than his brother, Aleix hitting the deck five times across the weekend, including in the race on Sunday.
11th. Miguel Oliveira – 7
By his recent standards, this was a much better weekend for Miguel Oliveira.
His best finish since June’s Dutch GP, the Portuguese rider was only 7 seconds behind teammate Brad Binder despite starting seven places behind him.
12th. Alex Marquez – 6.5
It is starting to feel like the minor points places is the limit of Alex Marquez’s talent in MotoGP.
The Spaniard, to his credit, did achieve two podiums in his rookie season last year.
He seems to have gone backwards in 2021, however, even if he is riding a slower bike.
13th. Andrea Dovizioso – 7
Considering this was only Andrea Dovizioso’s second race since his return to the grid, and his second for the Petronas Yamaha team, 13th place represents a good result for the Italian.
The 35-year-old, who joked that his time spent motocross riding during his sabbatical would suit him on the COTA track surface, also beat teammate Valentino Rossi, and was just 0.6 seconds behind Alex Marquez in front.
14th. Luca Marini – 6.5
After a sterling lap in Q1, Luca Marini progressed through to Q2 for only the third time this season.
That was as good as his weekend got, however, Marini going backwards from his starting position of 9th in the race.
15th. Valentino Rossi – 6.5
Valentino Rossi can be proud of his efforts in his last race in the United States.
He surely would have started higher than 20th had he not crashed on his final run in qualifying.
Indeed, he showed solid pace in the race, making up five positions and being fastest of anyone on the final lap to claim the last points position.
16th. Iker Lecuona – 6
From the oldest rider on the grid to the youngest, Iker Lecuona and his Tech3 KTM team were nowhere this weekend.
The Spaniard still outqualified both his teammate and Miguel Oliveira on the factory machine, though, before also finishing ahead of the former in the race.
17th. Takaaki Nakagami – 5.5
A bit like Jack Miller, a case of what might have been for Taka Nakagami in Austin.
After qualifying a brilliant 5th, the Japanese rider threw it all away on the second lap, going in far too deep at Turn 12.
After he picked his bike up, his pace was such that a first podium could have been on the cards, Nakagami the only rider to lap close to Marquez’s times in the 2:04s. Indeed, such was his pace, Nakagami still managed to finish ahead of Danilo Petrucci and Franco Morbidelli despite his crash.
18th. Danilo Petrucci – 5
This was Danilo Petrucci’s worst weekend of the year.
Last in qualifying, he probably would have also finished last on the road in the race had Franco Morbidelli not been struggling with his knee injury.
19th. Franco Morbidelli – 6
Frankie Morbidelli must have been in excruciating pain on Sunday.
The Italian, who had enjoyed a decent qualifying, missing out on Q2 by one place and 0.2 seconds, was lapping 5 seconds off the pace at the back of the field in the final laps.
Only his second race since returning from an extended injury lay-off, it was sad to see such a talented rider clearly struggling so much, the 25-year-old obviously not yet fully fit.
DNF – Aleix Espargaro; Johann Zarco
