• Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) wins in Texas
• New race duration record in 41min 41s 435
• Four different manufacturers in the first four places
• The bumpy track requires drivers, machines and tires
Marc Márquez took advantage of the consistent performance of his MICHELIN Power Slicks Hard front and Soft rear tires to lead the race from start to finish and win the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas after mastering the terrible bumps and high temperatures of the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) finished second and third respectively.
On the starting grid, all the drivers had opted for the MICHELIN Power Slick Hard front, and all but three of them had chosen the Soft rear, although none had chained more than six consecutive laps at race pace during Free Practice 4 (FP4) with no tires due to the driving being made extremely physical by the bumps on the track.
The pace of the Grand Prix was particularly high as evidenced by the new race duration record of 41min 41s 435, more than four seconds faster than the previous one.
On Friday, the first Free Practice session started in the rain, so the teams were unable to work on the settings for the dry. The track started to dry at the end of the session, but it was still too wet to fit the MICHELIN Power Slicks. In the afternoon, the circuit was completely dry and the drivers were finally able to test the slicks, after completing some fast laps in the wet in case the rain came again on Saturday.
Saturday's Free Practice 3 (FP3) session gave drivers the opportunity to work on dry settings and allowed them to better understand the extreme track conditions. At the end of the session, the battle for direct access to Q2 was launched. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) set an incredible time given the conditions, in 2min 02s 923, with Soft front and rear – a time improved in Q2 by his teammate Francesco Bagnaia, in 2min 02s 781, with Hard front and a rear Soft.
At the end of the race, Piero Taramasso, Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager, summed up: “ The weekend was very interesting for the teams and for us because we didn't know the level of grip on the re-surfaced parts. But, during the first dry session, we quickly realized that these portions offered good grip, unlike the old asphalt. »
« Given the differences in grip depending on the surfaces and because of the numerous bumps, I am very satisfied with the performance demonstrated by all the options proposed in our allocation, and the fourth rear Hard tire, brought as a reserve, was not necessary. The Hard front worked particularly well for all the drivers and all the manufacturers – it was chosen by all the drivers. While all of the rear tire options could have been used in racing, a large majority favored the extra grip offered by the Soft. »
