I get that not everybody watches MotoGP, or is even aware of its existence, and that includes those who are fans of Formula One, NASCAR, IndyCar, Australian Supercars, World Rally, Endurance Racing and so on. But, on the evidence of last weekend’s racing at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), it amazes me that some won’t be aware or take the time to find out.
Of course, we’re all guilty; I rarely take notice of the American racing series although, if it’s on and I’m in front of a TV, I’ll watch it, but it’s not something that looms large in my life, no doubt much to the disgust of diehard fans who believe it to be the be-all and end-all of motorsport.
So, in fact, we just have to be satisfied with the fact that we like MotoGP and not worry too much about the rest of the world. Still, a weekend like the one we’ve just had makes me want to shout from the rooftops.
I might have to come clean and admit that. For me, COTA is the best circuit on the calendar. As soon as I think that, however, I then remember Portimao, Assen and Philip Island. But, no, I’m going to stick to my guns here.
COTA has everything: fantastically interesting layout (and long, at over 5km), lots of elevation changes (40m up to the first corner), that brilliant left-right-left-right-left-right-left sequence, plenty of very fast corners, the longest straight on the calendar (1.2km), lots of overtaking opportunities, and a seemingly endless triple apex right-hander. It is so different to the current generation of new and bland circuit designs that it’s hard to believe it hasn’t been around for decades.
Another thing it has is American TV producers directing the cameras, and they are some of the best in the business, maybe thanks to the sheer amount of home-grown racing there is in the U.S. for them to practice on. They were helped at COTA by having a lot of action to choose from, but I can’t help feeling that some European producers would have concentrated on watching Bezzecchi riding around at the front, by and large on his own, rather than the action taking place behind. This particular race was one of the best-covered races I’ve seen for a long time.
It remains an outrage that Sprint victories don’t count towards a rider’s official race victory tally. On the evidence of the COTA Sprint race, that has to change.
DiGiannantonio performed another miracle and took pole position, for the second race in a row, and he was joined on the front row by Bezzecchi and Acosta, with Bagnaia, Mir and Marquez on the second row. Right from the get-go, the action was frenetic, Bezzecchi dropping to seventh, while Bagnaia led, with Acosta second and Mir, amazingly, third, Martin right behind him.
Then came the controversy. Marc Marquez made a right hash of braking into the sharp left onto the main straight, careered past DiGiannantonio, lost the front end and took both himself and Diggia out. They both remounted but finished way out of the points, while Marquez got a long-lap penalty in Sunday’s GP for his troubles.
But this was yet another Aprilia weekend. Martin and Bezzecchi were running second and third by half distance, but Bagnaia was 1.4 seconds up the road. Then Bezzecchi did his now-common Sprint race trick of throwing it all away, with three laps to go, leaving Martin second to Bagnaia and closing the gap rapidly.
This is where Martin’s masterstroke came into play. He’d opted for the medium rear tyre while everyone else was on the soft. He had to be patient, waiting for the tyre to come to him but, once it did, Bagnaia, suffering with his soft rear, had no defence and Martin swept past on the final lap to take the win, Bagnaia second and Acosta third, although he would have that stripped away for a tyre pressure infringement, promoting Enea Bastianini on the Tech3 KTM onto the podium.
Brilliant stuff, but then we had the bizarre sight of Martin pulling a celebratory wheelie down the straight, only to lose it completely as he put the front wheel down, bike and rider sliding along the tarmac, thankfully with no injury to the rider. A classic race.
And then there was the Main race. As inconsistent as Bezzecchi is in the Sprint races, in the last four GPs, he has led every single lap; that’s a total of 101 consecutive race laps led, the all-time record belonging to Jorge Lorenzo, on 103 from back in 2015. Starting fourth, after a two-place penalty for impeding Marc Marquez in qualifying, gave everyone the impression that that run might well be over. Everyone except Bez himself, that is.
Well before the end of the first lap, he was past Acosta, after a hairy moment between the two coming onto the main straight, Bez losing some rear aero and lucky not to be off. From that point, he was never headed, increasing his winning streak to five races and 121 laps lead. That domination makes it all the stranger that he can’t get it together in the Sprint races.
Even more impressive was the fact that the Aprilia blitzed Acosta’s KTM on top speed, and that’s never happened before! Another factor was the rear tyre. Aprilia looked as if it had made best use of the stiffer-carcassed tyre as used in Thailand and Brazil to combat the heat. The Ducati doesn’t, as a rule, like this tyre and was expected to be back on form in Austin, with the regular construction tyre back in play. Well, that didn’t happen, did it? The two factory Aprilias ran away with the race yet again; the team’s second one-two in a row. Ducati is definitely on the back foot, and Marc Marquez’s slow recovery isn’t helping matters.
Even better than watching Bez and Martin running at the front was watching Ai Ogura’s Trackhouse Aprilia carve through the field, passing easily and looking as if he was on for a podium before the cruellest luck in the form of a mechanical or electronics failure took him out.
The good thing about Ogura is that he has the relative lack of attention and mental freedom to get on with his job and he’s doing an amazing job; he’s quick, always in the points – apart from this race, of course – and the Aprilia, looking like it suits many riders, means Ogura is a lucky fellow; right rider on the right bike at the right time. Just imagine if Aprilia had locked out the podium? Talk about rubbing Ducati’s nose right in it.
Up front, Acosta was powerless to prevent Martin from taking second place after being pressured into a mistake, but the real action was happening a bit further back. Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini were having a right old ding-dong, the pair of them despatching Bagnaia and swapping places throughout the final laps, the result eventually going to Marquez.
The main thing to take from this, however, is that the KTM is looking rather handy. Well, in the hands of Acosta and Bastianini, that is! Poor Viñales sat out the race, a screw in his shoulder having come loose (yes, really), while Brad Binder could only manage twelfth. You can’t help feeling that he’ll have to do a lot better to justify his place in the team next year, no matter what is going on behind the scenes in the KTM garage. The fact that Acosta is making the RC16 work doesn’t mean that it’s any good, but still, Acosta is making it work, so Binder will be measured against his teammate’s performances.
Talking of next year, as we seem to do a lot in these articles, a surprising bit of news came over the wires in the days following the race. Spanish media reported that current Moto2 riders David Alonso and Dani Holgado will be riding for Honda and Ducati, respectively, next year. As with the Bagnaia/Aprilia, Acosta/Ducati, Quartararo/Honda and Martin/Yamaha rumours, nothing is confirmed or in any way official, but bringing these two youngsters into the MotoGP fold will have ramifications.
Alonso to Honda, alongside Quartararo, means no factory Honda seats for Mir or Marini, who may go to Yamaha, while Mir may go to Trackhouse Aprilia.
Holgado is reportedly off to Gresini, to replace KTM-bound Alex Marquez (allegedly), while Fermin Aldeguer is set to head to the VR46 team. Gresini was linked to a return to Honda machinery but will apparently stick with Ducati, while Bastiannini looks set to return to the team from Tech3 KTM. Oh, and on that note, there is no guarantee that Tech3 will remain with KTM for 2027 and beyond.
Confused yet? You’ve every right to be. But, thanks to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, the Qatar round has been postponed to November, and we’ve got an interminable month to wait for the next race—plenty of time to update your “Who Rides Where In 2027” wall chart.
As always, keep an eye out for all the news as and when it happens.
