Rins salvages positive result from difficult race, whilst Marquez goes unrewarded in podium
fight.
The Grand Prix of the Americas saw mixed results for Emilio Alzamora’s proteges, as after solid practice sessions for Alex Rins and Alex Marquez, neither was able to obtain the expected rewards. Rins eventually took a valuable fourth place, whilst his teammate Marquez was involved in the fight for the podium until the final lap, crashing out two corners from the end.
At the start, the duo managed to get amongst the lead group. Jack Miller ‒winner of the first Grand Prix of the year in Qatar and winner again in Austin on Sunday, set a fast pace right from the first lap, leaving the rest of the field behind with the exception of Efren Vazquez. First Marquez and later Romano Fenati were able to reach the duo after they had scaped midway through the race, but Rins had to settle for leading the second group ahead of Jakub Kornfeil.
On the penultimate corner of the last lap, Marquez suffered a crash under heavy braking when riding in fourth. It was Rins who finally took the position at the chequered flag.
At the end of round two, Rins lies fourth in the overall standings with 24 points. Teammate Marquez is sixth with 20.
Alex Rins >> Audio >>
4º, to 7.182 sec
“We have improved a little from Qatar, but we found it really hard to set the bike up throughout the weekend. When I was behind Alex [Marquez] and saw that he was getting away, I tried to brake later. That was my mistake. When I saw that I couldn’t keep up the same pace, I decided to focus on the points and try not to make any errors. The result today was both good and bad.”
Álex Marquez >> Audio>>
Fall
“We didn’t get a good start and at the beginning of the race I found it hard to pass Rins and Kornfeil. When I did so, I went after the lead group where Vazquez and Miller were. When I reeled them in I felt good on the bike and could keep up my pace without problems. However, at the end I was right on the limit and was about to fall on every corner. It was the penultimate turn which eventually caught me out, and I crashed. It was a pity, because we’d been having a good race. We can’t make mistakes like this again; we have to look ahead and keep improving the bike.”
