Austin MotoGP: Top 5 quotes after race
Taking his first win of this season today, Marc Marquez completed another perfect weekend at Circuit of the Americas
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
| Pos. | # | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 |  Marc Marquez |
Honda | 43'58.770 | 157.9 |
| “This was a crucial race because after Argentina it was important to come back in the best way, so we are really happy with this result. Although I won, it was difficult, because the temperature was much higher than yesterday. Five minutes before the start, I said to my chief mechanic, ‘Okay, let’s use the hard tyre’ because I knew that I would push the medium front tyre a lot. In the beginning I was just trying to understand the limit because I hadn’t tried it a lot on Friday. I was behind Dani and when I saw that he was struggling a little bit and Valentino was challenging, I said, ‘Time to attack.’ I was able to win, and I’m happy to be back in the championship.” | |||||
| 2 | 46 |  Valentino Rossi |
Yamaha | 3.069 | 157.7 |
| “It was a great surprise for me and for the team because we were struggling very much with the new bike, especially during the winter. I think we need more time to understand the setting and the way to ride it, but at the end this bike is very good, especially in the race and with the used tyres. I‘m so happy, because today I wasn‘t so far from the front and it‘s also the best result of my career at this track, so it‘s good. When I saw ’Viñales out‘ I started to think “I‘m on top of the championship standings”. I felt good and I also saw Dani having some problems, especially on the right, so I said “maybe those four points are important” and in fact it was like that. For me the penalty wasn‘t right. The problem is we either do it like this, or we crash together at a very dangerous point. But for me, though accepting Race Direction‘s decision, the mistake was made by Zarco.” | |||||
| 3 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa |
Honda | 5.112 | 157.6 |
| “I’m happy because we made some steps forward today, and overall this weekend was positive. We made some good improvements from the last races, and also in practice we were higher up in the results. Qualifying still wasn't as good as I’d have liked, but today were able to get a good start and arrive first to turn one. It was the first time I’ve done that in a while, and I led the race for a few laps, which is good. In the end it was difficult to manage the front tyre. I could feel that the right side was finished, so I couldn't prevent Valentino from passing me. After the crash in Argentina, I wanted to avoid losing the front, so I just tried to finish.” | |||||
| 4 | 35 |  Cal Crutchlow |
Honda | 7.638 | 157.4 |
| "It was a good race, I felt confident throughout and my team did a fantastic job all weekend. Of course, I’m a little disappointed not to get the podium because we were very close, but I took too long to pass Johann Zarco and after that I lost a little bit of time running off the track. But I felt comfortable during the race and physically strong, and I was still able to push towards the end. I would have liked another podium, but a third in Argentina and fourth here in Texas is good from the last two flyaway races. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into the first European round in Jerez.” | |||||
| 5 | 5 |  Johann Zarco |
Yamaha | 7.957 | 157.4 |
| "I am really happy with the result but the start of the race was tricky and it was not easy to get into a good position at the first turn. However, I felt great on my Yamaha so I started attacking from the third corner, and I was quickly able to overtake my opponents and get into 5th. I wanted to follow the top group so I pushed to stay close to Valentino and I was able to fight with him, which was fantastic. We came very close at one point because I had a bit more speed than him in the third corner, and maybe it was a bit too tight but fortunately, nothing serious happened and he went on to finish second. I really didn’t want to cause a problem for Vale and I know that I can learn a lot from him so luckily, we both recovered. After this, I continued to do my best and at the end of the sprint, Crutchlow was slightly faster, but nevertheless, 5th is just awesome and I am pleased because the podium was close today." | |||||
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