Bagnaia dominates COTA MotoGP sprint, Quartararo crashes

Ducati’s reigning MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia won what was easily the series’ calmest sprint race so far at the Circuit of the Americas, as Fabio Quartararo’s dreadful start to 2023 continued with a crash.

Bagnaia had expected Alex Marquez to be his biggest rival in the 10-lap sprint, but had to duel the LCR-run Honda of Alex Rins in the early going instead, as his fellow Ducatis encountered various dramas.

Both Marquez and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi were sluggish off the line, while Bezzecchi’s VR46 team-mate Luca Marini nearly crashed braking into Turn 3, dropping not just out of third but out of the top 10.

🚦 WE'RE GO FOR THE HORSEPOWER RODEO! 🚦@PeccoBagnaia leads them through Turn 1! 💨#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/pRDQevo4me

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2023

Rins, however, was a formidable initial foe, taking the lead briefly into Turn 1, albeit running wide and inviting Bagnaia back through. He then went past Bagnaia at Turn 7, only for the reigning champion to ease back past on the back straight.

Pushing hard to keep the pressure on Bagnaia, Rins ultimately buckled at Turn 12 at the end of that back straight next time around, running out wide and allowing Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro into second.

Big mistake from @Rins42! ⚠️

He now has the fast-starting @FabioQ20 for company! 👀#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/NYiFB5BURw

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2023

He nearly lost third, too, with Quartararo attacking him into Turn 13 but only succeeding in tapping Rins’ back with his front wheel.

That would be as close to the sprint podium as the 2021 champion would get, as on the next tour Quartararo got swallowed up by Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin on the back straight, before yielding to Marquez under braking at Turn 12 on lap four.

El Diablo – OUT! 💥

A great start for @FabioQ20 unravels on lap 5! 😢#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/VwVJq1SqWm

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2023

Starting lap five, as he sought to keep up with the lead group, he slid out of contention at Turn 1. He remounted and went on to finish 19th, ahead of only Tech3 Gas Gas stand-in Jonas Folger in what was his first MotoGP start since 2017.

Rins’ mistake was soon followed by Bagnaia making a proper break for it, his win in no real doubt even before the halfway point, with the real intrigue instead provided by the battles for the remaining podium positions.

This ultimately swung in Rins’ favour courtesy of another Turn 7 overtake, this time on the seventh lap, with Espargaro then dropping behind Martin after failing to retaliate against Rins at Turn 12.

While Rins went on to take the chequered flag 2.545s behind Bagnaia in second, Martin – suffering from illness this weekend – fought off a spirited Espargaro challenge, including a penultimate-corner divebomb, to secure third place.

Marquez should’ve been in that battle, too, but fell off at Turn 12 on the sixth lap.

A top 5 slips through @alexmarquez73's fingers! 😮#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hCEHFUbgWF

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2023

Brad Binder was a distant fifth for KTM, ahead of the VR46 duo of Bezzecchi and Marini – with the result enabling Bezzecchi to retain the points lead by one point over Bagnaia.

The final spots in the points-scoring top nine went to RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira and KTM’s Jack Miller, both taking advantage of Johann Zarco fading badly – the Pramac man having run in the top five early on.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales had a shocking start, darting wildly to the right and getting very little in the way of acceleration, which meant his race was a massive uphill battle – though he did ultimately finish 10th, just 0.291s short of Miller and a single point.

Another rider to crash was Ducati tester Michele Pirro, going down soon after Quartararo in the same spot and likewise remounting, only to subsequently bring his Ducati into the pits.

Sprint Qualifying Results