Marquez dominates Austin as Rossi crashes out

Marc Marquez remains unbeaten at the Circuit of the Americas after a clinical victory in an Austin MotoGP that saw an early crash for Valentino Rossi.

Marquez claimed a fourth win from as many races at the Texas venue while Jorge Lorenzo ran a distant second and Andrea Iannone was a similarly lonely third in the 21 lap encounter.

Lorenzo jumped best from the middle of the front row but the Movistar Yamaha rider skated into the first corner and eventually emerged in second position, behind Marquez.

He then dived under Marquez at the bottom of the hill on the opening lap but ran wide and entered the back straight in third position, trailing Andrea Dovizioso, while Rossi too exited off the corner badly and dropped to sixth.

Worse was to come for Rossi on Lap 3 when the Italian lost the front at Turn 2 and ended up tumbling through the gravel trap.

Lorenzo passed Dovizioso down the hill on Lap 5, but the leading Repsol Honda was already over two seconds clear by the end of that lap.

Dani Pedrosa had also lined up behind the Italian but dropped his Honda on Lap 7 and nailed the Ducati at Turn 1, the second time in as many races that Dovizioso has been taken out.

Maverick Viñales eventually passed his Suzuki Ecstar team-mate Aleix Espargaro at his third attempt on Lap 11, after which the race essentially became a procession as Marquez rode away to a lead which peaked at over eight seconds on the penultimate lap.

The 2013 and 2014 World Champion already has a strong hold on the 2016 title with the last two wins and a podium in Qatar, while his factory Yamaha rivals have a crash each to their names.

“I’m really happy,” said Marquez. “I think I did a really good race and I feel really great on this circuit.

“The race was not very fun but we get 25 points that was the most important thing.”

Lorenzo’s runner-up finish marks his 99th premier class podium for the man riding bike #99, while Iannone took his first points since a podium at Phillip Island last year.

Viñales’ fourth represents his personal best result to date, while fellow Suzuki rider Aleix Espargaro realised his best finish since a second placing in a rain-affected Aragon race in 2014.

Cal Crutchlow is yet to score a single championship point this season despite finishing for the first time as he crossed the line 16th after a mid-race fall.

The Brit had at least escaped a near-leg sweep when Bradley Smith went down in sympathy with his compatriot at Turn 11.

Jack Miller did not start after sustaining a foot fracture in a practice crash.

The MotoGP World Championship now moves onto the European phase of the season as Jerez hosts the Spanish MotoGP from April 22 to 24.

Results: MotoGP, Austin

Pos	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	43’57.945
2	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+6.107
3	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	+10.947
4	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+18.422
5	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+20.711
6	Scott REDDING	GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	+28.961
7	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+32.112
8	Michele PIRRO	ITA	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	+32.757
9	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	+34.592
10	Stefan BRADL	GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	+40.211
11	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	+45.423
12	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	+47.127
13	Tito RABAT	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	+47.426
14	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	+51.190
15	Loris BAZ	FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	+1’12.929
16	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	+1’19.252
17	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+1’28.036
DNF	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	10 Laps
DNF	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	15 Laps
DNF	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	19 Laps

Championship Standings

Position	Rider	Points
1	Marc Marquez	66
2	Jorge Lorenzo	45
3	Valentino Rossi	33
4	Pol Espargaro	28
5	Daniel Pedrosa	27
6	Hector Barbera	25
7	Andrea Dovizioso	23
8	Maverick Vinales	23
9	Eugene Laverty	21
10	Aleix Espargaro	21
11	Andrea Iannone	16
12	Scott Redding	16
13	Bradley Smith	16
14	Stefan Bradl	15
15	Alvaro Bautista	14
16	Michele Pirro	12
17	Tito Rabat	11
18	Jack Miller	2
18	Yonny Hernandez	2
20	Loris Baz	1