MADRID, 13 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Motorcycle World Championship lands this weekend at the COTA in Austin (United States), the scene of its third event, the Grand Prix of the Americas, a test in which Ducati will try to maintain its current initial dominance of the championship in the category of MotoGP and where the Spanish Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) will be missing again.
For now, the omens of the preseason are coming true and the bikes from the Borgo Panigale brand are unbeatable. Italians Francesco Bagnaia, defending champion, and Marco Bezzecchi have put the Desmosedici at the top of the Portuguese and Argentine Grands Prix, respectively, and of the six podium places, five have been occupied by Ducati riders.
Only the Spanish Maverick Viñales (Aprilia), second in Portimao, has been able to sneak into this ‘party’, while the South African Brad Binder was able to win the sprint race at Termas de Río Hondo with the KTM. The championship standings after the first two rounds reflect this initial ‘dictatorship’ with four Desmosedici in the top four positions.
The lead and the responsibility of defending it now belongs to Bezzecchi, the only one to have scored two podiums so far thanks to his third place in Portugal. The Italian took advantage of Bagnania’s first mistake, which crashed in Argentina and which was not good in the sprint race either, to snatch a first place where he has a nine point advantage over the current champion. At 15 and 17 are the Frenchman Johan Zarco and the Spanish Alex Márquez, with Viñales, at 18.
And before the jump from the championship to Europe, where the next ten Grand Prix will be held, the ‘queen’ category grid will be measured at COTA, where the last victory in 2022 was also by Ducati, with the Italian Enea Bastianini, one of the absent along with the ‘sheriff’ of the circuit, Marc Márquez.
The eight-time champion is the driver with the most victories on the Texan track, with seven, six of them consecutive between their debut on the calendar in 2013 and 2018, to which he added that of 2021. However, the man from Cervera continues with the recovering from the hand injury produced at the World Cup premiere and after missing the appointment in Argentina, he will not be on his ‘favorite’ circuit either, where ‘La Bestia’ ended last year with Spanish dominance in COTA, since in 2019 Alex Rins won on the back of a Suzuki and in 2020 there was no race.
Without the presence of Márquez, Joan Mir will try to put Repsol Honda as high as possible, although the start of the championship for the Balearic Islands has not been too brilliant either and he was not even able to race in Termas de Río Hondo due to the fall he suffered in the sprint race, so you will arrive motivated and wanting to do better as soon as possible. On this occasion, the German Stefan Bradl will occupy the Catalan’s place in the official Japanese team.
The American appointment will also serve to see the competitiveness of the Aprilia, which in 2022 were not among the improvements, and if Yamaha comes back after a difficult start. Frenchman Fabio Quartararo only has 18 points, although Franco Morbidelli’s fourth place in the last Grand Prix gives some encouragement to the Iwata factory.
HOLGADO DEFENDS LEADERSHIP IN MOTO3.
For their part, in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories, the Italian Tony Arbolino (Kalex) and the Spanish Daniel Holgado (KTM) arrive at this Grand Prix of the Americas as leaders, the only one who defended this position in the Argentine Grand Prix.
Arbolino won the Argentine track and will now try to increase his lead over the Spaniards Arón Canet (Kalex) and Pedro Acosta (Kalex), who are eight and twelve points behind, respectively. The man from Mazarrón, winner in Portugal, could not be ahead in the second round, while the Valencian, second in Portimao, was fourth in Termas de Río Hondo where Alonso López (Boscoscuro) from Madrid finished second.
In Moto3, Daniel Holgado, winner of the first race and fourth in the second, will defend two points ahead of the Portuguese Diogo Moreira (KTM), the only one on the grid to have added two drawers (third and second).