Jorge Martín arrives as leader at the unpredictable COTA

BARCELONA, 11 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Grand Prix of the Americas, the third round of the motorcycle World Championship that takes place this weekend at the COTA, in Austin (Texas), is presented as usual open and with uncertainty for a grid that is experiencing another year of internal struggles at Ducati , great dominator at this start of the championship, with Jorge Martín as leader, with permission from the KTM and the Aprilia.

Álex Rins’ victory with a Honda satellite last year reflects what COTA is about; a route where making predictions usually leads to error. Everything indicates that a Ducati, which only has the victory of the Italian Enea Bastianini in 2022, will emerge victorious from the Austin circuit (Texas), but perhaps a KTM – or Pedro Acosta’s GasGas – or an Aprilia will dare to repeat the feat from a year ago, which would be a miracle if Honda returned to the top.

It does not seem that it will be like that, with Joan Mir being the best driver of the Japanese factory with just 7 points after the first two rounds – including Sprint and Race – in Portugal and Qatar. But KTM, be it with Brad Binder who is second in the World Championship or with the surprising ‘rookie’ Pedro Acosta, fifth with the GasGas Tech3 bike after signing his first podium in the premier category in Portimao, and also the ‘capitano’s Aprilias ‘Aleix Espargaró and the improved Maverick Viñales want to surprise.

On the other hand, at Ducati they want to smile again in Texas. Last year there was only one Borgo Panigale bike in the top five, and it was that of Luca Marini who, second, is now in the Repsol Honda Team and still without points. And Jorge Martín, who leads this championship and who was second at the end of the 2023 World Cup, could not even finish the first lap, while Francesco Bagnaia, current world champion, could not finish the American race either and also arrives in need after his ‘0 ‘ when touching Marc Márquez’s ‘Desmosedici’ in the fight for fourth place.

Mandatory chip change at Ducati, which as it adds leading riders sees its internal struggle between the factory officials increasing (with Enea Bastianini currently third ahead of Bagnaia, fourth) and the ‘satellites’, with Martín leading with 21 and 23 points margin over the ‘Beast’ and ‘Pecco’, respectively.

The truth is that the last race in Portugal, before the ‘break’ to start this tour in Austin, could have left a very different scenario had it not been for the fall they suffered, when they got involved in an action with several points of view, Bagnaia and Marc Márquez.

The one from Turin has never won on this track in the ‘queen’ category, with a third (2021) as the best result, while the man from Ilerda races on one of his ‘favorite’ tracks where he has seven victories, more than anyone else and three more than Alex Rins, now at Yamaha, where the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo will have the difficult challenge of celebrating his renewal until 2026.

CANET AND HOLGADO DEFEND LEADERSHIP IN MOTO2 AND MOTO3

In the intermediate category, a Spaniard also leads, Arón Canet (Kalex), who after 70 races in the category and almost five years after standing on the first podium for the last time – in Aragón 2019 – was finally able to celebrate a victory. which boosted him to the leadership of Moto2.

Canet beat the American Joe Roberts (Kalex) in Portimao, who will now race at home, and the Spanish Manu González (Kalex), who are also second and third in the championship, 2 and 4 points behind Canet. It’s all in a fist, since Sergio García (Boscoscuro) is fourth, 5 points away, and Alonso López (Boscoscuro), fifth, is 6 points behind Canet after his fall in Portimao.

For his part, Fermín Aldeguer (Boscoscuro) was hit by a double ‘long lap penalty’ for overtaking the bike at the start of the event, although he was able to make up for it by finishing fourth, he arrives at COTA wanting to fight and get closer to the top.

Spanish dominance is total since in Moto3 the leader is Daniel Holgado (GasGas), winner in Portugal with victory and leadership, while José Antonio Rueda (KTM) and Iván Ortolá (KTM), second and third respectively, completed a podium entirely Spanish and they will try to repeat the cajon in Austin.

However, the Colombian David Alonso or the Dutch Collin Veijer are in full fight for the championship, despite still being at the dawn of it. Of course, perhaps Iván Ortolá, who last year won the COTA with almost half a second ahead of Jaume Masiá, now in Moto2, starts with a bit of an advantage.

2024-04-11 16:19:56
#Jorge #Martín #arrives #leader #unpredictable #COTA