The MotoGP circus makes its third stop of the 2018 racing season in the U.S. for none other than the Grand Prix of the Americas, which like in years prior, will be contested at the home of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas this weekend.
The action on and off the track couldn’t be any hotter right now, with three different winners in just as many races so far, and two of MotoGP’s biggest last names currently involved a war of words and tweets that fans can’t get enough of. Of course, we’re talking about Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez, who following their violent encounter in Argentina have caused an uproar of public opinon—some saying that Marquez should be reprimanded, and others calling for Rossi to grow a pair.
Marc Marquez returns to the 2018 edition of the only North American race on the calendar as the reigning champion. In fact, having won the last five races at the Circuit of the Americas and the last nine MotoGP races in the United States, five at COTA, three at Indianapolis and one at Laguna Seca in California, it’d be more appropriate to call him the Spanish emperor in the United States, rather than just the reigning champ.
Of course, Marquez’s primary rivals like Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo and Cal Crutchlow will be ready to pounce if given the opportunity, but given the Spaniard’s record in the Lone Star State and the track’s notoriety for the lack of passing opportunities, that might not happen at all.
Grand Prix of the Americas Fun Facts:
- In total, there have been 30 previous Grand Prix events hosted in the United States: 15 in Laguna Seca, eight in Indianapolis, five in Austin, and two in Daytona.
- Honda riders have won the last 14 MotoGP races in the U.S. The last non-Honda winner was Jorge Lorenzo at Laguna Seca in 2010.
- All 15 podium finishers in the five previous MotoGP races held at Austin have been from either Spain or Italy.
- Marc Marquez has won on each of the nine occasions he’s raced in the MotoGP class in America, five times at Austin, three times at Indianapolis and once at Laguna Seca.
- Only once in these nine appearances in America has Marquez not been on pole.