The MotoGP series visited the COTA track in Austin, Texas this weekend, and Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales was the star. Viñales took pole position, won both the Sprint race and the main GP, and, in the process, became the first rider in the modern era to win Premier Class races for three different manufacturers, including Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia.
Saturday’s Sprint saw Marc Márquez (Ducati) and Jorge Martín (Ducati) finish second and third behind Viñales.
In Sunday’s GP, Viñales made a miraculous comeback from a terrible start that saw him outside the top ten after the first lap. Rookie Pedro Acosta (GASGAS) took a podium position with second place ahead of Enea Bastianini (Ducati) in third. Jorge Martín continues to lead the championship points.
For full results and points for Saturday’s Sprint race, visit the MotoGP site here.
For full results and points for Sunday’s MotoGP race, visit the MotoGP site here.
big triumph tigers and moto 3 kittens
active suspension that softens or stiffens.
blown kawasakis that fly without wings
these are a few of my favorite things.
low power wheelies, exhaust flames a-spittin’
traction control that’s controllin’ the slippin.
gold ohlins dampers titanium springs
these are a few of my favorite things.
when the cold bites, when the rain stings,
when i’m riding bad,
i simply remember my favorite things
and then i don’t feeel
so bad.
two hundred horsepower street-legal moto
maverick vinales is one speedy mofo.
all the control that ‘fly-by-wire’ brings
these are the bulk of my favorite things.
I really got a kick out of this once I realized what is was…. duh😵💫. Can’t believe no one commented on it.
Yes, ’twas really clever! Well done dt 175.
Every time I see that first photo I think. “Seeee racing four strokes makes you crazy.”
Your perspective is indeed uniquely unique.
No-one else on the planet would have ever thought this. There’s a relevant George Carlin bit but it is vastly NSFW/not “family friendly.”
No no no brochacho. Most of the old motocross racers that rode before the year of infamy (2002) agree that two strokes are proper racing motorcycles. I’m sure there are more than a few motorcycle dealers who think that having three major road racing championships selling sport bikes is vastly superior to one as well. You know, the ones that remember the day when the biggest problem was getting enough sport bikes to fill demand. When road racers didn’t wear masks to hide their shame. 🙂
I think the cadre of 2-stroke lovers is much smaller than you think it is. All the vet guys I know happily run 4T dirt bikes because they’re easier to ride and way better on gas. They remember their 2T’s fondly but don’t buy new ones.
Road racing and sport bikes were a trend that’s faded. Very few who bought sport bikes ever went to the track or followed racing. I’d argue that racing wrecked the sport bike market by making affordable, versatile sport bikes into expensive, one-trick ponies that real riders no longer wanted to buy. Insurance premiums growing to 25% the value of the bike per year didn’t help, either. Sport bikes are now returning in popularity and they’re profiled a lot more like the old Honda F3 than the most recent Yamaha R6.
As usual, you’re making stuff up to suit your own opinions.
Sorry Dave.,
I just can’t believe that HOGwash. Come to a ride with all my buddies. Four strokes are a rare and obsolete thing there. I get it that that mostly motocross guys are team obsolete. But that’s because the morocross tracks have all been made four stroke friendly. And the bikes themselves tend to dial the track in for four strokes as well.
In the real world only the rare rider can ride a four stroke without making the group wait for them to catch up all the time.
Technology has blessed the four stroke mightily. But versatility is NOT their strong suit. Forests are roadblocks for most guys on four strokes. They really are substandard equipment. I kept at least one around for decades until I wrote them off as a failed experiment. They really are that bad.
You said “motocrossers”. While appreciate that you and your friends like 2T’s, that doesn’t make a market. MX tracks are how they’ve always been, the 4T proved superior in that without help from track designers (climb the hills at Glen Helen or Budds Creek..).
As for woods riding, on paper I’d agree, lighter weight, easier to re-start, simpler to rebuild, but when I watch GNCC amateur videos on YouTube, all I see and hear are 4Ts.
Your comfortable on a 2T and that’s fine, most have found they’re faster/better on 4T’s and the market offering reflect that.
MX tracks have changed. It’s subtile. But what they did for the four strokes was move jumps further away from corners because the four strokes can’t explode out of corners they way two strokes can. Then the bikes themselves change the tracks because of the way they are ridden. Two strokes rail corners. Four stroke get in, turn and power out. This creates a bump in the middle of corners right where a two stroke would normally be experiencing a lot of G load.
And four stroke did not prove to be superior. They were given a huge displacement advantage after being rendered obsolete decades ago. The OEMs are raking it in too. I have an ’04 and an’ 07 YZ. You know darn well that they are two strokes because any ’04 or’ 07 YZ four stroke is dead and gone isn’t it? A two stroke? No problem. I swapped a set of SSS forks onto the ’04 and the only difference between it and a 2024 YZ is the steel frame, which is more friendly to side hits. The ’07 is the same bike as the 2024. And it is still illegal for a pro to race it in the 250 class. He would have to race it in the 450 class against bikes with considerably more power. You know, because four strokes are so superior. Yeah right.
And don’t give me the four stroke whine about two strokes only needing two strokes. Look down a two stroke cylinder bore and you can’t help but notice that there are a whole lot of big holes in it for moving air. You’re not making any power while there are a bunch of big wholes in the cylinder wall. You’re moving air.
The Spanish Squid bit the dust … again? I’d hoped he’d gain some maturity on the factory Ducati. Apparently not.
Apart from six championships. And he was riding first
last championship being 2019.
Нe said frankly that he is not the same as he used to be.
What was the track surface like? Years past, the riders didn’t want to race there. Is it true the track’s construction was financed using a “Teachers retirement fund”?
Great race.
I thought the races were supposed to be on tru tv? Saturday race was on but not Sunday. Not on dish nw anyway.
this is what i thought Mav was going to do when he first arrived on the MotoGP scene. he has won some races now instead of just qualifying well and then…well we all know what Mav’s career was at the start of it all.
it’s taken a quite while to win a race or two and i wonder how long it’ll last.
he sure got serious about racing now though as he now finally looks as gaunt and unhealthy as most of the other paddock members. what is most current requirement for rider’s weight? -10% body fat? yeesh.
He has gotten off to strong starts before, as well as finishing in 3rd and 4th overall for several seasons. We’ll see if he can hold it together. He was pretty amazing yesterday. He rarely ever recovered from poor starts in the past and he charged through this time.
As for the skinny – yeah, that’s just what peak cardiovascular fitness/endurance looks like. Train like these guys do and it’s almost unavoidable.
So I’m a climber – and a beanpole. Strength training is a thing – one need not be bulky to be strong, and lighter weight AND smaller size/nimbleness etc are advantages anytime gravity or inertia, pesky Newtonian laws such as they are, come into play.
Agreed. Bruce Lee was stronger than guys twice his size
The telemetry thing has dropped off a bit but I recall seeing Fabio Quartararo and Doviozo’s heart rates mid race. They operate at higher heart rates than I do in *bicycle* races (I am older than they are but still..). They’re at the cardio red-line from lap #2.
I have often wondered about that. I’m one of those few guys who is bored from waiting to get on the starting line. I’m almost dead calm when it drops.
Yet the guys who do end up beating me generally are really fired up on the start.
One advantage to being a dead fish on the starting line, in my opinion, is that I have a much clearer head in the first corner, which is a big deal. The down side is that I’m not fully on line like the other guys are at mid race. Energizer bunnies can be hard to catch.
“As for the skinny – yeah, that’s just what peak cardiovascular fitness/endurance looks like.”
yes, i realize that. i follow MMA/Boxing too and the folks at their weigh-ins are often a scary site to behold…similar to what these MotoGp riders now look like.
point being a few folks (Pecco included) don’t seem near as gaunt ‘in appearance’ as a lot of others do.
Mav never looked that gaunt before until recently.
I’d guess he has taking his racing racing career (and therefore, his cardio) more serious as of late and it shows. I am certainly not rooting against Mav.
I think what you’re seeing is just the natural variability among athletes. There are successful professional cyclists (these guys train 30+ hrs./week in some parts of the season) that don’t present with extremely low body fat. Have a look at Tadej Pogacar, who is arguably the best road cyclist in the world today. Just looks like a normal kid. You’d never know they were otherwise remarkable by appearance.
Fighters cutting weight by dehydrating is an entirely different thing.
C’mon Mav, the whole Batman thing is just weird.
Just?
I think, if one opens their mind, and attempts to intuit what the team/maverick are trying to achieve, it makes perfect sense. They have been in the darkness, ALA “the dark knight” where batman has been quiet, or in the background for several years. Then the caped crusader encounters the villain, Bain. He is beaten and captured, then sent to the same site that Bain came from. Complete Darkness. Avoid of limelight or glory. IN A HOLE. Over time, with great effort, seeking inner power….he escapes the hole….and comes back to defeat all , even his inner self…gains victory of his opponents and returns to glory.
Just when you think that most of those guys can’t grow a proper beard or shave. One starts rocking a cheap Halloween mask. I would hate to speculate what’s going to happen next because it probably will.
“¡Cómo te gusto ahora!” – Maverick Vinales
Great race and mostly great weather at the track other than constant wind but that’s Austin.
Super ouch for Honda. “Honda! Crash out or be last if you’re lucky.”
You meet the nicest people. Once they catch up… Or regain consciousness.
Acosta once again the story of the day. Vinales certainly earned his win although much of the chatter concerned his negative behaviour and dismissal from Yamaha a while back, people need to get over that. Marquess had a odd low speed low side grip loss on the front truly unfortunate because his pace was top notch. Excellent race overall on a less than excellent track.
Viñales and Yamaha are a bit back now. No one really knows how they were responding to his input as they were sending him out on an uncompetitive bike.
They must not have calmed him to patience with $12/yr like they have for Quartararo, who must surely be looking across the paddock longingly at that Aprilia himself.
Oh yea, that Acosta kid looked pretty amazing too
Wait Batman? I thought he was Top Gun?
Anyhow he looked like he and Aprilia could do no wrong. Inside, outside, didnt seem tl matter. No denying Vinales this weekend.
Great race.