Ahead of the third round of the 2018 Moto2 World Championship, Alex Marquez was on pole, sharing the front row with the KTM of Sam Lowes and Mattia Pasini. Francesco Bagnaia headed up row two, as he looked to bounce back after a disappointing Argentinian round. Joan Mir was fifth on the grid, with Luca Marini sixth. Xavi Vierge, Marcel Schrotter and Fabio Quartararo were on row three. It had been a poor qualifying for the ‘factory’ KTMs, as the Red Bull Ajo bikes of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder were down in twelfth and sixteenth – in fact they were the lowest-placed KTMs on the grid ahead of the eighteen-lap race.

By far the favourite for the race win, it was Alex Marquez who made the holeshot and took the early lead. Sam Lowes had a poor getaway, and dropped back to fifth in the initial stages, with Pasini, Bagnaia and Vierge finding their way past the British rider early on.

Notably, Pasini had chosen the harder option rear tyre, whereas everyone else had gone with the softer option. This was clearly not working for him at the start but the hope for him was that after six or seven laps it might start to come in, and he could start to make his way back through the pack. But he could not hold back Bagnaia, who passed him on the first lap before pointing his crosshairs at the leader, Marquez, and began closing down the near-one-second gap that Marquez had created.

It took Bagnaia a few laps, but eventually he caught Marquez and with ten to go; the gap was essentially nothing. He waited a few laps, perhaps managing the tyre, but Bagnaia finally made his move with nine to go at turn eleven, but he ran wide, allowing Alex back through.

Whilst Pecco was waiting to try again, Oliveira passed Vierge for third with eight to go, but surely the five or six second gap that had appeared between Bagnaia in second and Vierge in third was too much for the Portuguese rider to close down with the limited time remaining in the race.

The next move from Bagnaia came at turn one with six laps to go, but there was a sublime response from the Spaniard at turn three just a few seconds later. Once more, Bagnaia came back, this time at turn eleven when Marquez ran wide. The #73 came back through with the slipstream down the main straight, but the Sky Racing Team VR46 Kalex moved back through on the brakes for turn twelve. After hanging on through the ‘go-kart’ section of the track, Pecco now had a chance to hold the lead, but Alex was not dropped yet.
By this point, with five laps to go, Oliveira was now with far superior pace compared to the front two, lapping nearly one second faster than the leaders. The only person who could match his pace in the final laps was Joan Mir, which is perhaps very telling.

An apparent mistake on lap fourteen from Bagnaia allowed Marquez to come back to him, but the next four laps from the Italian were just what was needed to hold on, and take the win. It was an important win, too, for Bagnaia, after his poor performance in Argentina: where he finished only ninth. It was a win which made him the first double winner of 2018 in Moto2, and also meant that there is still an Italian domination in the intermediate class thanks to Pasini’s victory two weeks ago. In addition, first place in COTA allowed last year’s ‘Rookie of the Year’ to return to the top of the championship, and this time with a ten-point lead which, with the incredible depth of field in Moto2 this season, could be about as big as anyone gets all season.

Alex Marquez held on well for second. For sure, he would have expected to win, but finally he did not have the endurance in the softer tyre that Bagnaia or Oliveira did. Fortunately for Marquez, he did manage to build a large gap whilst the likes of Vierge and Pasini were running at the front and not allowing Oliveira to show his ultimate pace. Perhaps the biggest positive for Marquez after this race is that, despite the difficulties he faced in the final laps, he did not make a mistake and throw it all away as he might have done in the past, and that could be crucial looking forward with respect to the championship.

Fourth place went to Miguel Oliveira who will be ruing his poor qualifying. Without that, he could have won – he was the only rider who could run the mid-to-low elevens at the end of the race, with the possible exception of Joan Mir, and if he had started at the front we wouldn’t have seen so much of him on the TV.

Joan Mir had another stunning ride for fourth place. He will be disappointed as his fifth-placed qualifying was his best in Moto2, and it gave him his best opportunity so far for a top result. However, an incident with Dominique Aegerter at turn one on the first lap shoved him to the back of the pack, and meant that he had to fight from the lower reaches of the top twenty to salvage his race. And salvage it he did, with sublime passes on riders, who are no mugs: riders with far superior experience to him. His fourth place probably did not match what he deserved. Furthermore, his pace in the end of the race was only matched by Oliveira, on the KTM which is famed for its gentle treatment to the tyres, and realistically if everything was ‘how it should have been’, if you like, Mir should have been fighting with Oliveira for the win in COTA, and it would be hard to bet against the Spaniard in such a fight. Either way, it was a brilliant performance from the 2017 Moto3 World Champion, and surely he is only going to get faster when the championship heads to Europe in just a couple of weeks.

Iker Lecuona took by far his best Grand Prix result with a fifth place for the eighteen-year-old. Like Mir, you would expect him to get stronger in Europe – he had never been to Austin before this weekend. Lecuona was followed in by Brad Binder, who, like his teammate, had to recover from a poor qualifying and finished sixth after quite a wild race for the South African with quite a few moments. Pasini was seventh, and suffered with his choice of the harder rear tyre. He might have had an advantage in the end of the race, but never had the free track to use it thanks to how tight the pack was behind the leaders. Eighth place went to Jorge Navarro, who beat home Domi Aegerter and Lorenzo Baldassarri who was tenth.

Isaac Vinales was eleventh, ahead of Simone Corsi who is seemingly really struggling in the Tasca Racing team. Luca Marini was thirteenth – and seemed quite good in the beginning of the race but could not keep up the pace towards the end, perhaps due to a shoulder that he dislocated at the MotoRanch last week. Andrea Locatelli was fourteenth and Fabio Quartararo rounded out the points in fifteenth.

Sixteenth went to Romano Fenati who is still looking for his first Moto2 points. Remy Gardner was seventeenth, ahead of Hector Barbera who is still struggling to adapt to Moto2 after eight seasons in MotoGP. The Japanese Tetsuta Nagashima was nineteenth, Bo Bendsneyder rounded out the top twenty, ahead of Steven Odendaal on the leading NTS chassis. Eric Granado was the only Suter to finish, and did so down in 22nd, ahead of sole home hero Joe Roberts.

Sam Lowes had an early crash at turn eighteen but got back on and finished 24th. Khairul Idham Pawi finished 25th, ahead of Jules Danilo, Zulfahmi Khairrudin and Federico Fuligni who was the 28th and final finisher.
There were four retirements: Xavi Vierge, Stefano Manzi, Marcel Schotter and Danny Kent.

Next, the Moto2 World Championship goes back to Europe, and to Jerez, the circuit where Bagnaia took his first Moto2 World Championship podium last season. With that in mind, is anyone going to be able to stop the current championship leader when the paddock arrives in Spain?

Jorge Martin was sat on his tenth career pole position ahead of the 2018 Moto3 Grand Prix of the Americas, and alongside him on the front row were Aron Canet and John McPhee. Tatsuki Suzuki, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Enea Bastianini made up row two, whilst row three was a Japanese sandwich made with Italian bread with Dennis Foggia and Marco Bezzecchi lined up either side of Ayumu Sasaki for the seventeen-lap race which lay ahead.

It was a good start for Martin, who was one of two riders to run the harder rear tyre, the other being Bastianini. But, as is typical for Austin, there was a pileup at turn one, with Adam Norrodin, Kaito Toba, Kazuki Masaki and Jaume Masia all coming to blows.

Martin was away well, though, ad that was a worry for the opposition because the Spaniard had looked to have supreme pace all weekend. But Di Giannantonio had found his way into second position as the field made its way through the snake, and was turning on the magnets trying to catch his teammate ahead. In behind the Italian was Aron Canet, the rookie Dennis Foggia, Suzuki, Sasaki, Bastianini and Bezzecchi with a small gap behind the Italian back to Phillip Oettl.

Over the next laps, there was the usual early sparring that you get in Moto3, and a modestly-sized, for Moto3, front group of about twelve riders. There were surprises, though, as the likes of Foggia took a stint at the front – people who might not have been expected to be fighting right at the very front before the race. Foggia spent a lot of time in the early laps in the front four in the beginning of the race, which made his swift demise in the final seven or so laps all the more confusing. But it was a strong race for the Moto3 Junior World Champion, who should have even more confidence when the paddock heads back to Europe.

With ten laps to go, the race began to take shape, as the two Gresini bikes, led by the #21 of Di Giannantonio had found their way to the front with Bezzecchi in tow. Despite their best efforts, they could not escape the pack behind thanks to the series of long straights at COTA and the importance of slipstream in the lightweight class.

But what was missing was Aron Canet, who was struggling, battling with the likes of Andrea Migno for seventh, and not making any headway. It was a confusing situation, because he had been quite strong all through the weekend, but now was seemingly unable to put himself in a position from which he might be able to challenge in the last laps.

With seven laps to go the front group had definitely split. There was now a front group of five, with Bezzecchi, Martin, Diggia, Bastianini and Oettl; and then behind there was Livio Loi who had come from way back on the grid in 26th place to now be trying to bridge the gap between the front group and the chasers, and he was bringing Migno and Jakub Kornfeil with him.

With five to go the front group of five had almost become a sixteen-wheeler thanks to Migno, but more importantly Jorge Martin, with that harder rear tyre, had hit the front. Bastianini had seen the danger, but he was back in sixth place when it arrived. The Beast made quick work of Oettl and Bezzecchi, but already Martin was creating the gap. Enea made the move on Di Giannantonio with four laps to go at turn seven in the middle of the esses, but already the gap had grown to nearly a second.

Over the next three laps, Bastianini showed that he had the pace to match Martin, but could go no faster. Martin finally took the win because he made the move at the right time, and Bastianini could not challenge him because he was not in the right place to react. It is this apparent lack of race craft which has hindered Enea in the past and, even though he is clearly one of the fastest riders this season, it could once again cost him the championship if he doesn’t address it.

Either way it was a stunning piece of timing for Martin to escape when he did, and he made perfect use of his hard rear tyre. As mentioned, he was not the absolute fastest rider on the track; other riders could match his pace. but he had the superior race craft and the superior intelligence to make the most of what pace he did have, and it is that which gave him such a comfortable win.

The second place for Enea Bastianini was the first of his season, and also his first in Texas. With that in mind, you would have to say his championship challenge has now started, typically for Enea a little later than everyone else. Jerez will be an important round for the Italian, because he needs really to beat Martin to close the gap in the championship, and also announce himself as a contender.

Third place went to the Argentinian GP winner, Marco Bezzecchi, who did not look so spectacular this weekend, and in fact many people discounted him, implying that Argentina was a one-off due to the conditions. But Bez proved them wrong in the race, with a strong pace throughout which was only matched by one other KTM rider in the shape of Philipp Oettl who we know from past performances likes the Texan track a lot. In a track which for a lot of the weekend he had struggled, Bezzecchi still found the podium, and this could be the sign that he might be able to fight for this championship.

The podium was won for Bezzecchi in the final corner, where Fabio Di Giannantonio dive-bombed him, as you might expect in the final corner of a race. In doing so, Diggia ran wide, and that cost him fourth to Andrea Migno on the exit. Migno had produced some stellar pace in the second half of the race, and fought hard at the end to achieve his best result of the season. Had Migno qualified better, he may well have been able to beat Bezzecchi to the final podium spot.

Finally, it seems Andrea is starting to click with the Angel Nieto Team, who have their home race up next in Jerez, at the circuit which has been named after the late Spanish motorcycling legend after whom Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez named his team between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. A good result at such a venue would not go uncelebrated, that is for sure.

Di Giannantonio ended up fifth, but only after fighting for the lead for most of the race, that will come as a disappointment to the Italian. Sixth place went to Philipp Oettl who had by far his best result of the season and the same can be said for Jakub Kornfeil, the Czech rider finishing in seventh place. Aron Canet was disappointing in eighth, especially after the incredible pace he had in Austin last year, but the result evened out the championship a little bit, after Martin’s eleventh place in Argentina. Tatsuki Suzuki took ninth place, and in the end. Despite a promising pace towards the end of the race, Livio Loi could only manage tenth, but from third-last on the grid, that can be considered quite an achievement for the Reale Avintia Academy rider.

Ayumu Sasaki had a huge moment on the exit of the final corner early on in the race when he was in the leading group, but in the end could only muster the pace for eleventh place ahead of Gabriel Rodrigo, Darryn Binder – who was really quick when the circuit was slippery – and the KTM pairing of John McPhee, who had a difficult race from the front row and Albert Arenas who rounded out the points.

Dennis Foggia managed to somehow, lose 20 seconds in five laps, indicating either a destroyed tyre, maybe the rider running out of energy or just a lack of rhythm after he started to get overtaken. Whatever the case, the result does not represent in this case the performance of the rider because in this race Foggia could have been in the fight for the podium, and with five laps to go; he was. Maybe in Jerez, a track where he was quick at last season in the CEV, he will be in the fight until the end.

Four seconds behind Foggia, was fellow rookie and youngest rider in the paddock; Alonso Lopez. Who beat Lorenzo Dalla Porta to seventeenth after the Italian lost time by running on at turn twelve at the end of the main straight. Makar Yurchenko took nineteenth, ahead of a disappointing Tony Arbolino in twentieth on the Snipers Honda. Jaume Masia could not recover from his involvement in the first lap collision at turn one and finished 21st, ahead of the other riders who were involved and remounted Kazuki Masaki and Nakarin Atiratphuvapat, and also Niccolo Antonelli who ran into the back of Lopez at the end of the main straight on lap one.

There were four retirements: Marcos Ramirez and Nicolo Bulega, both of whom continue their horrendous starts to 2018. As well as Adam Norrodin and Kaito Toba.

After the first three fly-away races of 2018, the next six races in Europe, starting with Jerez in two weeks, offer an opportunity for the championship to settle, the cream to rise and the true championship contenders to show themselves as such.

Featured image courtesy of Redbull contentpool