Alex Rins became the third different MotoGP winner in as many races in 2023 at Austin's Circuit of The Americas this weekend, pipping Mooney VR46 Racing Team's Luca Marini to glory by just under 3.5 seconds, with 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) rounding out the rostrum in third. During the initial stages of the grand prix, the Catalan rider gave chase to Ducati Lenovo Team's Francesco Bagnaia, who had qualified on pole position and triumphed in the Sprint Race. After his rival crashed while leading on Lap 8, Rins progressively increased his advantage over the pursuing pack by continuing to set fast times throughout the 20-lap contest. His performance underscored the consistency of MICHELIN's Power Slick tyres – on this occasion, Hard at the front (symmetric) and Soft at the rear (asymmetric).
Like Rins, the entire MotoGP field opted to run with MICHELIN's Hard front and Soft rear Power Slicks for the Grand Prix of The Americas, their efficacy having already been proven during Saturday's Sprint Race.
The action in Texas began on Friday with the opening two practice sessions held on a cold and 'green' track, where grip was hard to find. After trying out all five specifications in their weekend allocation, riders made their choices for qualifying the next day. On Saturday morning, they were greeted by a cloudless sky and a track temperature of 24°C – perfect conditions that enabled Francesco Bagnaia to secure pole position with a new outright lap record of 2m1.892s. The track temperature heated up as the day progressed and had risen to 45°C by the time the Sprint Race got underway at 3pm local time, with such a significant leap obliging teams to adapt the settings of their bikes and their tyre pressures when cold.
Bagnaia duly won the Sprint Race, and along the way bettered the previous fastest race lap of 2m3.521s (the work of Enea Bastianini in 2022) with his own effort of 2m3.082s. Rins then lowered the official benchmark to 2m3.126s in Sunday's Grand Prix, making the LCR Honda rider MotoGP's new race lap record-holder at COTA.
"The track was slightly cooler in the grand prix than during the Sprint Race, but with a ground temperature of 40°C, grip levels clearly weren't ideal," said Piero Taramasso, the manager of Michelin's two-wheel motorsport programmes. "The combination of the Hard-compound tyre at the front and Soft at the rear was clearly the best, resulting in extremely consistent lap times from start to finish and four different manufacturers represented in the final top four – proving once again that MICHELIN's Power Slick range is well-suited to all the bikes and riding styles. Every existing lap record was beaten this weekend – and by some impressive margins."
Round 4 of the 2023 FIM MotoGP World Championship – the Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España at Spain's Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto – will take place on the weekend of April 28-30.
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