Marquez completes MotoGP treble in Texas
Marc Marquez stamped his authority on the delayed Austin MotoGP to claim his third straight premier class victory at the Circuit of the Americas.
The Repsol Honda rider was back on the top step after finishing in an unfamiliar fifth place in race one in Qatar following a first-corner mistake, battling back from last place at Losail.
Marquez, who started from pole, tailed Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso until the fifth lap before making his move on the RC213V, gradually pulling away at the front at a circuit where the Spaniard has proven unbeatable in MotoGP.
Movistar Yamaha's Valentino Rossi moved through to second place to take up the running behind Marquez but the Qatar race winner was unable to make any inroads and dropped back into the clutches of Dovizioso in the final part of the race.
The Ducati rider pushed Rossi back to third place on lap 16 and managed to keep the Yamaha M1 at bay to clinch a second consecutive runner-up finish on the GP15, with Rossi bagging more solid points in third.
Jorge Lorenzo found a second wind on the second of the Movistar Yamahas on the final laps as he reeled in and passed Ducati's Andrea Iannone to take fourth place, with Bradley Smith finishing as the top satellite rider in sixth on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine, one place ahead of CWM LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow.
Suzuki pair Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales were eighth and ninth respectively, with the top 10 completed by Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci.
There was huge disappointment for Scott Redding, with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda rider crashing out on the first lap and collecting Pol Espargaro. It was a disastrous outcome for the young British rider, who had qualified in an excellent sixth place on row two in Texas.
Rossi continues to lead the world championship ahead of next weekend's Argentina MotoGP with 41 points, but his advantage is only one point over Dovizioso, with Marquez now five points behind in third place.
The race was delayed by around 40 minutes after water began leaking onto the track from a bridge at turn 3.
Dovizioso grabbed the lead into the tight turn 1 from his qualifying position of second place on the front row with Marquez tucked in behind.
Rossi slotted into third ahead of the fast-starting Smith, who headed Lorenzo and Aleix Espargaro on the Suzuki.
Satellite Honda rider Crutchlow, who had been prominent all weekend in practice on the LCR Honda, didn't make the best of starts and was holding eighth place on the first lap.
There was early drama when Redding went down at turn 11 and took out Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Pol Espargaro in the process, bringing to an end a race that had promised so much after the Marc VDS rider's terrific qualifying effort to secure a second row grid slot.
There was no change in the order of the leading quartet until Marquez moved into the lead on the fifth lap, briefly passing Dovizioso into turn 11 before the Ducati powered past on the straight, although Marquez attacked again on the brakes into turn 12 made the pass stick.
He then edged away in front and it was quickly clear that Dovizioso had no answer to the Honda's pace, while Rossi - who surged into second place on lap eight after exchanging places with Dovi on several occasions on previous laps - was also unable to make an impression on the leader.
Iannone was a rider on the move and gained two places as he went through on Lorenzo before passing Smith for fourth on lap eight as Marquez extended his advantage at the front to almost two seconds over Rossi.
Dovizioso made a stunning pass on Rossi at turn 3 on lap 16 and the nine-time world champion wasn't able to regain the position as he battled front tyre wear.
Lorenzo was now beginning to make ground on Iannone as Smith held sixth place ahead of Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro and the double MotoGP world champion pounced on lap 19 through the twists and turns of sector one to progress to fourth.
Marquez was controlling matters at the front and could afford to slacken the pace on the final two laps as Dovizioso appeared safe in second, while Rossi was forced to settle for third.
Unlike Qatar, there was no final lap drama and Marquez closed out his customary victory in Texas by 2.3 seconds from Dovizioso, with Rossi three seconds down on the race winner as he clinched his best result at the Circuit of the Americas.
Lorenzo stayed ahead of Iannone, with Smith finishing in an impressive sixth from Crutchlow.
In the absence of Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda's Hiroshi Aoyama finished 11th ahead of Avintia Ducati's Hector Barbera, with Nicky Hayden taking 13th place on the Aspar Honda, one place ahead of rookie Jack Miller (CWM LCR Honda).
Aprilia's Alvaro Bautista earned the final point in 15th place, finishing one-and-a-half seconds ahead of Eugene Laverty on the second of the Aspar Honda machines, who had been running as high as 12th on the opening laps.
Stefan Bradl was a faller on the Forward Yamaha at turn 1 on lap four with Pramac Ducati's Yonny Hernandez also coming off at the final turn on lap seven.
Karel Abraham and Marco Melandri both retired from the race.
