Rewind to 2023
SPRINT
1 Bagnaia 2 Rins 3 Martin
RACE
1 Rins 2 Marini 3 Quartararo
After crashing out of a safe second seven days earlier in Argentina, things quickly went from bad to worse for Bagnaia in Austin.
Leading by nearly 2.5s on lap eight, Bagnaia blew it when he crashed in the high-speed downhill turn two as Christmas came early for Alex Rins.
Rins gleefully accepted the gift to take LCR Honda’s first win since Cal Crutchlow in 2018 and it was a first for HRC since Marquez won in Misano at the end of 2021.
Luca Marini scored his first MotoGP podium, taking second spot, while third place went to Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
CoTA was the last time a Japanese brand won and the last time two Japanese bikes were on the same podium.
Pedro Acosta won the Moto2 while Ivan Ortola came from 18th at the end of lap one after nearly high-siding himself to the moon at turn two to win Moto3.
There was a time when it seemed Marc Marquez could rock up at the horsepower rodeo at CoTA and win blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back. Undefeated between 2013 and 2018, Marquez reigned as the undisputed King of CoTA because of his brilliance on anticlockwise tracks. This weekend is only his third race on the Gresini Ducati, but he is most people’s red hot favourite to win. Speed, confidence and experience is growing daily on the Ducati, and given he attacks his beloved CoTA on a competitive package for the first time in ages, you sense his rivals are going to have to produce something special to deny him.
Momentum and confidence are valuable commodities in racing and Jorge Martin has both in abundance heading to Texas as the rider to beat. Two rounds into 2024 and the Spaniard has already won one GP, one Sprint and he’s not yet qualified off the front row or finished off the podium. Impressive numbers considering he’s still not fully ironed out some rear tyre chatter issues with the new Ducati GP24. Sixty out of a possible 74 points on a bike he’s not completely clicked with shows a level of maturity that could prove a vital weapon in 2024. He’ll be eager for a first MotoGP podium in CoTA to press home his early series lead.
Honda have won eight out of 10 races in Austin, largely thanks to the genius of Marc Marquez. Seven of those eight victories were taken by the Spaniard, with Alex Rins securing the other, but to think more glory beckons for HRC this weekend is frankly absurd. Second in Austin would not so long ago have been deemed failure. How times have changed. Now a top 10 will feel like a great result for Honda, who have yet to place higher than 12th so far in 2024. Ouch.