2016 Austin MotoGP Photo Gallery
For stateside MotoGP fans, Austin’s Circuit of the Americas (COTA) was the only place to be last weekend. The 3.4-mile circuit containing 20 corners hosted the only American GP event on the 2016 MotoGP calendar after the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix was cut due to financial issues.
There were a few surprises at this year’s third round of MotoGP at COTA, but they had nothing to do with the winner. For the fourth-time straight – and the 10t time on North American soil – Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was victorious. Marquez has won the last eight MotoGP events in American, which includes COTA, along with Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway and Indy, and two Moto2 events.
Marquez’s weekend at COTA was absolutely flawless. He led all four free practices, qualified on pole, and earned the win by over six seconds ahead of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo. Claiming the final podium position was Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone, who finished 10.947 seconds behind.
With his win – his second-consecutive one this season following his Argentina MotoGP win – Marquez has the points lead with 66, 21 ahead of Lorenzo, and 33 ahead of nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, who suffered a crash in Austin.
Following Austin MotoGP, Marquez said “I’m very happy with how the whole weekend has gone. This is a circuit that I like, one of my favorite, but there were some unknowns here because just before the race we decided to run the soft front tyre. In the end the team advised me very well, because the change gave me the good feeling with the bike that I had partly lost in the warm-up.
“I have to thank them all, as well as the Michelin technician. When I asked, they told me that I would be okay for the first 12-15 laps, and then after that I would have to manage the situation more, which is exactly what happened. We’ve taken another victory here in Austin and are now on a run of four in a row, which is great. In addition, the joy of the team after we won illustrates everything we’re working on. In these first three races of the year, we’ve made good use of the situations that we’ve encountered.”
We had Ara Ashjian, our go-to MotoGP photographer, at Circuit of the Americas. Following is a photo gallery of his best work from the Texas Formula 1 circuit.
2016 Austin MotoGP – Photo Gallery
