Francesco Bagnaia scored a dramatic MotoGP victory at COTA as team-mate Marc Marquez crashed from a two-second lead.
Bagnaia inherited the lead following Marquez’s crash on Lap 9, and eventually won the race by two seconds from Alex Marquez.
The race was declared wet as light rain hit the circuit before the race start, with Fabio Quartararo crashing on the sighting lap to the grid.
Ahead of the race, some of the riders decided to change their bike to a different set-up, with Marquez and Bagnaia amongst those to reverse their decisions.
The start was aborted due to the number of riders wishing to change their bikes, as the race distance was reduced to 19 laps.
There was further drama for Maverick Vinales, whose bike had to be taken off of the grid just moments before the start.
Marquez got the best start from pole position and was able to maintain his lead over his younger brother on the Gresini into the first corner.
Bagnaia got another fantastic start and moved to third after overtaking Fabio Di Giannantonio, and set his sights on a battle with Gresini’s Marquez.
Further down the order, there was a battle for fifth place between Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller and Quartararo, which saw the Italian prevail in the early stages of the race.
On Lap 4, Bagnaia got within striking distance of the younger Marquez ahead of him and made his move at Turn 12 to move into second place.
The complexion of the race completely changed on Lap 9 as Marquez crashed out from a two-second advantage out front, with Bagnaia inheriting the lead from his team-mate.
Marquez rejoined in 18th position, but damage to the bike meant he was immediately overtaken by Vinales and Lorenzo Savadori.
The eight-time World Champion continued circulating for a few laps but eventually came down the pit lane to retire from the race.
Out front, Bagnaia continued to build an advantage on Gresinis Marquez, as he led the race by over three seconds.
The battles raged on throughout the field, with Fermin Aldeguer and Johann Zarco scrapping for sixth position, with the rookie eventually getting the better of the LCR Honda rider.
Marco Bezzecchi was the next rider on the Frenchman’s tail, and the Italian made his way into seventh with four laps to go.
Aldeguer continued to storm through the pack in the late stages as he eased past Miller into the top five.
Zarco then crashed out of eighth place, as Aldeguer exited the race just two corners later.
At the front of the race, it was Bagnaia who crossed the line to earn his first victory of the campaign.
Marquez took the flag in second place, which saw him take the lead of the MotoGP championship for the first time in his career.
Di Giannantonio completed the podium in third place to conclude a strong showing in Austin.
Morbidelli finished the race in fourth, narrowly ahead of Jack Miller, who was the top non-Ducati in fifth.
Bezzecchi was sixth for Aprilia as Enea Bastianini used his late-race pace to get into seventh position.
Luca Marini ended a strong weekend for Honda in eighth place as Ai Ogura took the flag in ninth.
Quartararo responded to his pre-race crash by finishing inside the top ten, leading from team-mate Alex Rins in 11th.
Raul Fernandez took 12th ahead of stand-in rider Augusto Fernandez in 13th, while Vinales responded to a dramatic start to finish inside the points in 14th.
Lorenzo Savadori sealed the final points position in 15th, as Somkiat Chantra was 16th, with Zarco the final finisher two laps down in 17th.
Aldeguer retired late on in the race and was joined by Binder, Marquez, Joan Mir and Acosta as the non-finishers of the Grand Prix of the Americas.
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