You know by now that Marquez won – I’ll pretend like I’m a MotoGP guru because I said that would happen yesterday. Thanks to the impressive press team at Dorna and Circuit of the Americas, I have some other interesting tidbits to share with you.
First, we’ll start with race-related info. Total attendance for the weekend was 131,881 – there were 56,258 at the track on race day itself.
Marquez started from pole in Austin for the fourth consecutive year. Even more impressive, he’s now won his last 10 races in the US – 8 in MotoGP and 2 in Moto2.
Maverick Vinales came in 4th. I was hoping he’d finish on the podium, which would have made him the first Suzuki rider to place in the top three since Loris Capirossi in 2008 – but that will have to wait.
Despite his three position penalty due to his crash in Argentina where he took out his Ducati teammate, Andrea Iannone snuck in on the podium in third place. Here’s the video of last week again because it’s always worth another look (skip to 2:55 for the crash). Remember that Ducati was set to place 2nd and 3rd before Iannone took out himself and his teammate on the penultimate corner!
With all that said, here’s my attempt to bring you along for the trip – these are some of my favorite moments from race day: Sunday, April 10th.
Walking through the parking lot, I noticed several BMWs ‘assigned’ to MotoGP riders. I still don’t know what they’re for – some sort of parade that I missed? If anyone else knows, please leave a comment because I need to know!
Quick game of guess that car – the Ducati affiliation should help…
I thought the Michelin Tweel was still in prototype stage, but I was apparently wrong. This is the first example I had seen in the wild…
…and it was on a golf cart:
Dunlop brought a whole bunch of tires for minor leagues – remember that Michelin is the exclusive supplier for the big boys of MotoGP!
I asked this gentleman (who was rocking an excellent beard) what the yellow paint was for. He said it was to differentiate qualifying tires (which don’t last very long) from race rubber. I didn’t remember that qualifying had already happened until I walked away, so now I’m left wondering why he was working on qualifying tires on race day.
Pinata time:
Presented without comment:
This photo brings me joy because it shows a future motorcyclist, and it enrages me because it reminds me that BMW never brought the K1300R to the US.
If you knew nothing about motorcycles and showed up only on Sunday, you’d probably think Yamaha was the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world – their presence was truly impressive. One aspect of their marketing was a ‘learn to ride’ area where they set up a grass track and helped kids get into motorcycling. Kudos to you, Yamaha.
The coolest Harley-Davidson I’ve seen in several months:
BMW and GoPro both had VR setups for fans to enjoy:
We checked out a demo ride featuring Aaron Colton (street freestyle) and Geoff Aaron (trials). Colton is obviously talented but Geoff Aaron stole the show in my mind with his trials demo:
He landed at this angle after taking the jump on the left – impressive body and motorcycle control.
This is what 5 pounds of tire pressure (and a whole lotta skill) will get you:
Looking at this, it’s hard to believe that he basically rode this wall up after the jump.
A fitting end to the stunt show:
Geico brought one of the crazier custom bikes I’ve seen in a while – note the front wheel and the exhaust pipes!
It feels like I see the classic Honda Africa Twin built by Sam Roberts of Ujeni Motors at every motorcycle event I go to, no matter the state. Well done, Sam!
If you saw the race, you’ll know that Rossi crashed out early on Turn 2. If you didn’t see the race, you should consider enrolling in MotoGP’s Video Pass. Somehow, I ended up near pit lane when they brought Rossi’s bike in:
Then just a few minutes later, I saw Dovizioso’s bike after that bizarre crash due to Pedrosa’s miscue – the beginning of this race was nuts and it’s a shame that three of the top riders had to retire so early. I was unsuccessful in finding official MotoGP video of this crash, so you’ll just have to settle with this for now:
What’s sad is that this is the the closest I was able to get to any of the MotoGP bikes, and it was only because they had the misfortune of crashing out.
Ducati crew taking the bike back to pits.
Rossi hasn’t won in the US since 2008 in Indianapolis, but he had the most fans of any rider out there.
I saw my first Motus MST in the wild. I’ll have to get my hands on one at some point, but for now here’s a first ride impression from Walter Barlow from last year.
After all the racing was over, CotA set up a ‘track walk’ for fans so you could enjoy a different perspective on things:
To close things out, here’s a video from Dorna with the highlights of this race (and plenty of beautifully-shot slow motion):
That’s all for now, but I will share some more photos from the weekend once I’m back home. More in-person MotoGP coverage to come…next year, if MotoGP will still have me! Hope you enjoyed.
I had a little post from each day at MotoGP – did you miss Saturday?