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Austin (United States) (AFP) – Ducati-Grezzini’s Italian rider Enia Bastianini won the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin on Sunday, the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship, reclaiming the lead in the MotoGP class.
Bastianini took over the riders’ standings following achieving his first victory in his second year in the first category in the opening race at the Qatar Losail Circuit, to take the lead from Spaniard Alex Espargaro (Aprilia), who finished the race in Austin in eleventh place.
The 24-year-old Italian led with 61 points, 5 points ahead of Spaniard Alex Rins (Suzuki), who finished second in this stage, 2.058 seconds behind, and 11 points from Espargaro.
“It’s a great day,” said Bastianini, who finished the race with a time of 41:23.111.
“Winning here in the States is great, now we can eat some burgers!” he joked.
Australian Jack Miller (Ducati) came third, while the other Spaniard who won the MotoGP title in 2020 Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Spanish hexagonal world champion Marc Marques (Honda) and French title holder Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) finished the race in sixth and seventh places, respectively.
Bastianini excelled thanks to his bike’s speed in the long straights, surprising on lap 16 the Australian Miller, who also gave up his second place in favor of Rins.
“I have mixed feelings because I had a great race, then I was overtaken by Enea, but I didn’t make any mistakes,” said Miller, who led the race for 15 laps following finishing at the first corner of the race, overtaking Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), the fastest time in practice.
On the other hand, Rens dedicated his second place to “Ukraine, and to all the people who suffer”, from the war and “from the Corona virus” as well.
In the Moto2 category, Italian Tony Arbolino (Calix) took his first victory, 3.4 seconds ahead of Japan’s Ai Agora, while Britain’s Jackie Dixon finished third to climb to the podium for the first time in his career.
American cyclist Cameron Popeye (Calix), who started from first place, failed to finish the race.
The fifth stage will be held in Portugal on April 24 this year.
MotoGP top five Americas Grand Prix standings:
1- Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati-Grezzini) 41:23.111 d.
2- Spaniard Alex Rins (Suzuki), with a difference of 2.058 seconds.
3- Australian Jack Miller (Ducati), with a difference of 2.312 seconds.
4- Spaniard Juan Mir (Suzuki) with a difference of 3.975 seconds.
5- Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) with a difference of 6.045 seconds.
The top five rankings in the MotoGP World Championships:
1- Italy’s Ennia Bastianini (Ducati-Grezzini) 61 points
2. Spaniard Alex Rins (Suzuki) 56
3- Alex Espargaro of Spain (Aprilia) 50
4- Spaniard Juan Mir (Suzuki) 46
5- Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) 44
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