The third round of the 2024 FIM Grand Prix World Championship took place from April 12 to 24 at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Texas, USA.
The Gresini MotoGP Team featured the Spanish sibling duo for the season: Marc Marquez on the #93 bike and Alex Marquez on the #73. COTA, which has hosted MotoGP since 2013, has been a stronghold for Marc, with seven victories (2013-2018, 2021) in the American/Austin rounds, excluding the 2020 season due to the pandemic.
On Saturday, prior to the main race, Marc qualified third in MotoGP’s Q2 session, while Alex secured twelfth position. In the subsequent Sprint race, Marc claimed second place, and Alex finished fourteenth.
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The MotoGP main event on Sunday, spanning 20 laps or approximately 110 kilometers, saw Marc in the leading group, battling for the podium. In an intense first half of the race, he fiercely contested with three to four other competitors, creating one of the most exhilarating moments of the 2024 season. However, on lap 11, Marc lost control of his bike under braking before a corner, crashing out of the race.
Starting from the fourth row, Alex advanced to eighth after the first lap, tailing the leading pack. By lap 10, he was in seventh place. Also in lap 11, Alex had a mishap just before his brother’s incident but managed to rejoin the race, eventually securing fifteenth place and scoring one point.
With the US round concluded, the fifth round, the Spanish Jerez Grand Prix (April 26-28), will initiate the European leg of the 2024 season.
Alex commented after the race, “We started well, avoiding any drama in Turn 1. I managed the rear tire as planned, but I made a small mistake in Turn 1 later. I got back on track, and we leave COTA with positive feelings. If we had a better qualifying position, our conversation today would be very different.”
Marc shared, “I’m satisfied with my performance because we were one of the protagonists, and I had good speed to push hard. Unfortunately, I had a front issue under braking, feeling uncomfortable and struggling, which led to the crash. There was nothing I could do. We worked well, and I believe we’ll solve this problem like we have others, and we’ll give it another go in Jerez.”