MotoGP 2017: Marc Marquez Claims Fifth Successive Win At Americas GP

The MotoGP cavalry was in the land of cowboys last weekend and Marc Marquez proved for the fifth time that the Circuit of the Americas is his home turf. The world champion claimed his fifth successive MotoGP win in the Americas Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Yamaha's Valentino Rossi now leads the points race for the 2017 MotoGP championship title, having finished second on the podium. Honda's Dani Pedrosa claimed his first podium this season behind Rossi, after a stellar start in the Americas GP.

Marquez now stands third in points with Rossi in the lead and Vinales second

The US Grand Prix kick started with Yamaha's Maverick Vinales, Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi leading the grid. Pedrosa was quick to establish his domination with a super quick getaway from the pack, leading the race in its initial stages. Vinales was on his tail followed by teammate Rossi, while Marquez was quick to move to second ahead of the Yamaha riders in the opening laps.

Unfortunately, Vinales' brilliant streak this season saw an untimely stop as the 22-year-old crashed on Lap 2 of the race with a low-side crash at Turn 18. It was now Rossi and Marquez fighting for the second place, while Pedrosa continued to lead the race until Lap 8. However, the following lap saw Marquez make a quick move to pass his teammate while also benefitting from the medium front tyre unlike the hard tyre on Pedrosa's bike.

Rossi attracted a 0.3s penalty after going wide on Lap 7 gaining an advantage

It was no looking back for Marquez as the world champion surged ahead of Pedrosa and Rossi with a lead of over 1 second by the end of Lap 14. The Honda rider took the win by a lead of 3.069 seconds taking his first victory for this season. However, the battle for second was fought with spirit, no less, as Rossi built the pressure over Rossi. The 7-time world champion was gaining fast on the Honda rider, but did see a slight drop in his time after an altercation with Tech 3 rider Johann Zarco, which led him to go wide on Lap 7 gaining an advantage. The Italian was handed a 0.3 second time penalty for cutting the track, but that hardly affected his time. Rossi managed to pass Pedrosa at Turn 19 with just three laps left and maintained the second place with a 2 second lead.

2017 MotoGP Americas GP Dani Pedrosa

The win at Austin was also more important for Marquez after a less than satisfactory performance in the first two races. The crash in Argentina after taking the lead only added to the pressure. Nevertheless, the Marquez has made a grand comeback, moving up to third. Meanwhile, Vinales' crash has catapulted Rossi in the lead with a 6 point advantage over his teammate.

One of the more promising riders on the grid, Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda passed Zarco to take the fourth place with a lead of 2.5 seconds while Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso was sixth ahead of Suzuki's Andrea Iannone and Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci. Jorge Lorenzo is yet to find his momentum it seems and finished the race at ninth, after sticking to sixth for most of the race. Jack Miller of Marc VDS Honda completed the top 10 at the Americas GP.

MotoGP will now move to Spain at Circuito de Jerez for the next round on 7th May

Coming to the crashes, joining Vinales were Karel Abraham of Aspar Ducati, Loris Baz of Avintia Ducati and Sam Lowes of Aprilia. Alvaro Bautista also crashed, but was able to get back on the saddle and finish ahead of KTM's Bradley Smith.