Maverick Vinales mounted a comeback from a poor start to win out in a thrilling Americas Grand Prix in MotoGP as Marc Marquez crashed out from the race lead.
During a race that saw multiple changes at the front, Vinales claimed a historic triumph to beat rookie Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini, who completed the podium.
Acosta bolted from the middle of the front row to lead into Turn 1, but polesitter Vinales endured a disastrous start as he was forced wide and dropped down to 11th.
Further back, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo ran ride after the back straight but remained clear of Johann Zarco and Joan Mir, as Alex Rins climbed five places to eighth.
Jorge Martin and Jack Miller occupied the top three spots, but the second lap saw a piece of debris coming from Marquez’s Ducati amid a minor touch with the KTM.
Francesco Bagnaia was eager to recover from a challenging Sprint and he set about overtaking both Miller and Marquez before closing the gap down to the top two.
On the third lap, Martin overtook Acosta with an audacious block pass going into the sixth turn, with Marquez displacing Bagnaia into Turn 8 and then Acosta at Turn 11.
The following lap saw Bagnaia catch Acosta napping into Turn 1. Despite his best attempts to match the late-braking Italian, Acosta was unable to come back through.
Marquez was once again placing his Gresini bike in danger as he touched the rear of Martin’s Pramac as he angled to mount an overtake into the final corner on Lap 6.
Acosta was not done with Bagnaia and sliced past the reigning MotoGP champion in a role-reversal move, with Marquez following suit into Turn 8 to get back into third.
Vinales, having dropped to 11th, had produced a blistering pace whilst making efficient moves through to sixth before then passing Miller into Turn 2 with 13 laps to go.
Both LCR Honda riders fell from their bikes on the same lap as Zarco and Nakagami’s race ended at the rear of the grid, resigning the former to a double COTA retirement.
Likewise, Franco Morbidelli became detached from his Pramac on the next lap, meaning his run of failing to see the chequered flag extended to a third consecutive race.
The chaos continued as the field circled round to the next lap as another Honda retirement occurred, with Repsol Honda man Joan Mir falling down in the opening sector.
Back on track, Bagnaia and Vinales went toe-to-toe and swapped positions. While the Spaniard drifted wide into Turn 1, he positioned his Aprilia to get through at Turn 2.
Acosta and Marquez had both caught leader Martin unaware as the rookie headed a MotoGP race once again it was shortlived as COTA specialist Marquez nabbed first.
However, Marquez would surrender the chance to land a memorable win at one of his most prolific venues as he crashed his Gresini at Turn 11 before the back straight.
The Faenza-based squad’s woes would be compounded as Alex Marquez on the sister bike also retired, with Marc’s error allowing Vinales to latch onto the leading pack.
Having made an overtake on Martin to seize second place, Vinales then set about placing his bike in prime position to catch the leading contender, Acosta on the GasGas.
Despite his impressive start which saw him as high as eighth at a point, Rins lost the back end of his Yamaha, resulting in his first DNF for the Japanese manufacturer.
Acosta was powerless to prevent a rampant Vinales from coming past at the first time of asking at Turn 11 with eight laps to go and into a lead he would not relinquish.
With each lap that occurred the Aprilia rider sustained a gap over the rookie and avoided a late scare to win by over 1.5 seconds come the chequered flag in Austin, Texas.
Vinales’ win means he is the first rider in the MotoGP era to win on three different manufacturers, having also triumphed on bikes crafted from both Suzuka and Yamaha.
Acosta’s calm and composed second place propel him well into the championship hunt, making it back-to-back MotoGP podiums for the rookie who continues to impress.
A late overtake from Ducati’s Bastianini meant he pipped Martin to the final podium place, with Bagnaia completing the top five to cap a challenging weekend for the Italian.
VR46 Ducati duo Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi endured an exciting race, as both finished sixth and eighth with Aleix Espargaro lodged in between the pair.
Brad Binder struggled all weekend but when it mattered most he put in a big shift to come ninth, with Trackhouse duo Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveria 10th and 11th.
Quartararo was unable to celebrate his Yamaha contract renewal with a headline result, but he did come home as the Japanese marque’s highest-placed rider in 12th place.
Miller was unable to remain at the front due to tyre degradation, the KTM rider falling down the grid to finish a poor 13th, an entire 10 seconds behind team-mate Binder.
Augusto Fernandez once again finished as the worst KTM rider, with Alex Marquez coming 15th after being able to recover the bike from his accident earlier in the race.
Luca Marini took the honour as the sole classified Honda rider, but he was still unable to get his campaign up and running on the points board as he finished dead last.
Both LCR Honda riders, Marquez, Rins and Morbidelli failed to recover from crashes during the race, ensuring that their weekend at COTA ended in vast disappointment.
