MotoGP: More From The Red Bull Grand Prix Of The Americas

MotoGP: More From The Red Bull Grand Prix Of The Americas

© 2025, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. By Michael Gougis.

Jack Miller continued to demonstrate impressive wet weather skills. On a sodden track on Friday, Miller was second-fastest in Free Practice One, the highest a Yamaha rider has climbed the time sheets for a full-field session all season long. On Sunday, Miller was the highest-finishing rider not on a Ducati, taking the Pramac Racing Yamaha YZR-M1 to fifth.

 

Maverick Vinales (12) and Francesco Bagnaia (63). Photo by Michael Gougis.

It wasn’t the weekend Maverick Vinales wanted. A dominant winner of the Sprint and Grand Prix races last year at COTA, Vinales has moved from the factory Aprilia squad to the Tech3 KTM team and says he still is adapting to the new machine. Vinales retired from the Sprint with serious vibration in the rear, something several riders complained about, and his bike switched itself off twice on the grid for the Grand Prix. Conversely, two-time MotoGP World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (63) finished on the podium in the Sprint race, inherited the MotoGP race lead when Marc Marquez crashed, and took his first win of 2025.

 

Alex Marquez (73). Photo by Michael Gougis.

Alex Marquez kept his head down and rarely put a wheel wrong all weekend long in incredibly changing conditions. He was rewarded with two second-place finishes and left Austin with the MotoGP World Championship points lead.

 

It was chaos on pit lane and on the grid in the moments leading to the start of the Grand Prix, with teams making frantic last-minute tire and suspension changes. Here an Ohlins technician is working on the forks of Marc Marquez’ Desmosedici on the grid as raindrops spot the windscreen. Photo by Michael Gougis.

 

Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi “Gigi” Dall’Igna gives Francesco Bagnaia’s Desmosedici one last look before Sunday’s Grand Prix. Photo by Michael Gougis.

Ducati’s stranglehold on the MotoGP class shows no sign of loosening. In Argentina, Ducati took four of the top five spots in the Sprint and all five of the top spots in the Grand Prix. In Austin, Ducatis took the top five spots in the Sprint race, and even though Marc Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer crashed in the Grand Prix, the remaining four Desmosedicis took the top four places.

 

Corner workers on the back side of the circuit flew this flag all weekend. American MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden remains a revered figure in motorcycle road racing. Photo by Michael Gougis.

 

 

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