MotoGP 2022 – Round Four – COTA
Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
Enea Bastianini – P1
“We had exactly this time of plan for the race. In the beginning I struggled a little in the first sector, but I chose to not take too many risks and try to tail Martin. Then when Rins came from behind and we almost collided, I decided it was time to push harder. I passed Jorge and then Jack: I saw I had a little extra and I tried. I made a few mistakes during my first lap in the lead, but then I was able to put together a good pace. This is a fantastic win, which is the result of incredible teamwork. We can be quick on every track, even though I’m living this season like a rookie, as I see that we still have something to learn from the others on the track.”
Alex Rins – P2
“I’m so happy! I didn’t actually expect to get the podium, because in the first few laps I was struggling a bit and in risk to lose ground. I had to try and push the tyres more, to brake later, to make good overtakes. When I got into third I had a couple of moments on the front, some mistakes, and I knew that finishing the race was the most important thing. Then, with just two laps to go, I felt better and my pace was good, it meant I was able to overtake Jack and get second. This result is great, and I want to dedicate this podium to Suzuki for their amazing achievements, but also to the people of Ukraine, and those around the world who are suffering.”
Jack Miller – P3
“It’s a half and half feeling for me after a race like that. When you lead until five laps to go, when you’re second with two corners to go … third probably is the lowest result you’d hope for, but it’s been a good weekend for me here in Texas. I feel I’m back on track with where I should be after these first four races before we head back to Europe. So all in all, pretty happy.
“I think I rode a fantastic race, I can’t fault myself and I tried my best. Enea (Bastianini) came past me and because it’d been the first time I had someone in front of me all race, I got dragged in braking behind him a couple of times and lost time to Alex (Rins). It was game on for the last lap but I unfortunately didn’t have much left for Alex, and down to third I went on the second-last corner.
“Some disappointment, but it was good to be back up on the box again. It had been a rough start to 2022, but the bike broke down in Qatar and I finished fourth in the second race … OK, last weekend in Argentina was rough but we’re only four races in and we’re on the podium already, so that’s a positive. I’m up to seventh in the championship now and the season … we have a long way to go yet.
“It was hard work out there and my face was about as red as my leathers afterwards. I tried my best to break away from the boys but they were pushing behind me, and I just made a couple of slight mistakes. The gap was up to 0.7, maybe 0.8 of a second and then I just made a little mistake at Turn 11, a couple of them actually. Enea was back on me and blitzed me down the straight.
“I tried to be calm and sit behind him, but the next lap he went into that same corner deep and I followed him in. Nearly ended up in the car park! Then I heard the Suzuki next to me and I thought ‘here we go, this is like last year here’. It was Joan (Mir) that time, Alex this time, but we had a nice clean battle to the end. I closed the line, it was a nice fight, but he fired it in deep at the second-last corner and that was me done.
“If I knew what Enea was doing to the Ducati to get that little bit of extra performance, I’d do it! He’s riding well, and when he comes past it looks effortless. He has a particular style where he sits central on the bike and his head goes on an angle, and you look at him and even though the bike looks like it’s moving, he looks solid and stays there. It works because he’s able to stay really firm on the bike. He’s also a small bloke, so he’s very fast on the straights. He stops it well too … pulling up an extra 10 kilos is a bit harder, I can tell you that. He is unreal with the way he puts the throttle down though, and he’s able to ride it in a smooth, fast way. For tyre management, that’s the best thing. If I could emulate his style … I’ll keep studying.
“The big unknown coming into this weekend was what state the track was going to be in, because it was pretty rough the last time we were here late last year with all the bumps caused by the F1 cars. But I was pleasantly surprised from Friday with how much work they’d done, and this is honestly such a great place when the track surface is good, so that definitely put a smile on my face. Normal COTA is the best COTA, you might say. There’s still a few bumps and you still want a track to have some character, but compared to what it was … I was having a ball. COTA is a place I really enjoy coming to, it’s a pretty unique track on one of these bikes, so it was just what I needed to put a smile back on my face after Argentina.
“My goal today was to get out front and put the laps together, so it was really nice to show the pace – for 16 laps anyway. We’ll try to find the other four laps over the next week and head to Portugal. Still feels like it’s a very open championship, it’s such a long season and so much has happened already when you think I’m the 10th rider to get on the podium already and this was the fourth race. That says it all. It’s wide open, and the real championship will start when we get back to Europe.”
Joan Mir – P4
“I’m super happy because this is my best result in Austin, and it’s a very difficult track to ride. So, for me, to finish in fourth is a great thing. We managed to do a great race and my performance with the bike has improved race by race, thanks to my team. I started today’s race in a calm and careful way, and I was able to build and up my pace, eventually passing quite a few riders to get fourth. I’m happy and excited to go to Portugal with the improvements we’ve found, starting this European section of the season means a lot of races and pressure but we’re exactly where I hoped to be so far.”
Francesco Bagnaia – P5
“After FP4 and this morning’s warm-up, I expected a more consistent pace in the race, but that wasn’t the case. Jack was great because he was fast right from the start with the same specs as me, while I struggled a bit in the early laps. Today the goal was to be in the top 5, but I hoped to fight a bit more with the others. Instead, I had to defend myself. This weekend will help us understand where we need to improve to be more competitive in the upcoming Grands Prix”.
Marc Marquez – P6
“On one hand I am disappointed because it is clear we had the speed today and I was able to enjoy the race a lot, coming through from the back, but 25 points were possible today. We had a technical problem at the start, but it resolved itself and the bike was working well after that – even if I was last. I recovered many positions and had a great race despite some mistakes, which is normal when you are recovering like this. We can see the speed is there and we can walk away from here with a lot of confidence which is important. At the end we had a really nice battle with Fabio but when the race finished, I was destroyed, from that first lap I was giving everything I had on track to recover and finally finish in sixth. Another exciting race in Texas.”
Fabio Quartararo – P7
“At the beginning of the race, I had a little bit of the same problem I had in Argentina, but much less. That made me miss some grip compared to the others, but I think I did quite okay. In the beginning it’s more difficult to defend your position because everyone is close together, but I think we did a good race. I enjoyed it a lot! We battled really hard and, even if it was for sixth position, I enjoyed the battle with Marc. Even though we struggled quite a bit this weekend, this race was beneficial to me: I learn much more from these kind of races than I did in some of the races that I have won. Today I learned a lot, and I’m happy. We have pushed ourselves to the limit. Now we’re going to Europe, which has better tracks for us, I think. I’m just going to do my best to fight for the championship.”
Jorge Martín – P8
“A very difficult race, I started very well and I really gave everything I had but unfortunately it was not enough. We have to understand where we can improve.”
Johann Zarco – P9
“I’m quite happy, a very difficult race that involved a lot of physical effort. I had a good feeling all weekend but I had some difficulties with the rear tire and after that it was impossible to recover.”
Maverick Vinales – P10
“To be honest, the bike was working extremely well today. I couldn’t have asked for more. The limitation, which we are working on intensely, is speed on the flying lap. In this season, with this level, starting from behind means compromising the race, even if your potential pace is high. In any case, I’m happy because the right feeling is just about there. I feel good on the Aprilia and I can’t wait to begin the European part of the calendar.”
Aleix Espargaro – P11
“I tried my best to be competitive here, but this is a track that I have never liked and it is also not the most favourable for our bike. In free practice and even in the warm-up session, I managed to maintain a good pace anyway, but from the first lap in the race I struggled with grip. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to maintain the same pace as the best, I tried to be as fast as possible without making mistakes, because it was important to capitalise and earn some points even on a complicated weekend like this one. We have reason to be satisfied with this first portion of the season.”
Brad Binder – P12
“The race was going well from the beginning and we made the right choice with the tires because the soft option lasted until the end. I’m not happy at all to finish 12th because I got up into the battle for 9th and ended up tagging the back of a rider and falling back again. There were two laps to go and I couldn’t get back. It’s been a tough weekend but we managed to salvage some points. Let’s see what we can do at the next one.”
Pol Espargaro – P13
“Physically, this was maybe the hardest MotoGP race of my life. With about ten laps remaining I was honestly thinking about retiring from the race because I was feeling so weak. But I saw that we were in the points and I wanted to do it for the team. I was slow and the fast changes of direction were almost impossible. I am finished, I am exhausted. Now we can go home and recover and prepare for the races in Europe. The bike’s potential is much higher than what we have shown and where we are in the standings.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P14
“It was a tough race, but I made a really good start from the first lap and got in a good position, but unfortunately the lack of grip and the strong wind didn’t help with the front stability. All the weekend we tried many things to get the best balance from the bike, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find it, so it was a long and really tough race. I tried my best, but I didn’t have enough speed and the performance was not what we were looking for. So now we’re on to the European rounds starting in Portimao and we need to spend a few days analysing what’s happened in these four races.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P15
“I expected a bit more. I’m honestly very disappointed. My feeling is not improving while trying to reduce the gap and I can’t be happy about that. I tried to be consistent, but when you don’t ride in a relaxed way, you use more energy in the practices already, so I didn’t have a lot of energy left for the race itself. I was fighting with Marini, Oliveira and Morbidelli, but we haven’t been fast and that’s not a good feeling. At the end, we got one point, but the 29 seconds is the fact that we have to check. The gap to the top is big. I’m not happy, but I didn’t have the feeling to be any faster.”
Franco Morbidelli – P16
“It was a tricky race because finally we used a different setting for the warm-up, but we couldn’t try it, so I needed to try it in the race. Actually, I wasn’t feeling so bad, but it needed adjustments, and I needed to learn how to ride with it during the race. So, I learned it step by step and lap by lap. It was nice, because I could overtake, that’s positive. We will keep working and trying to understand what we need, and we will try to get back stronger in Portimao.”
Luca Marini – P17
“An uphill weekend: I always missed something in acceleration and speed on the straight compared to the other Ducatis. We need to analyse and understand exactly why. This was the main problem and the rest only a consequence. In the race then, in the battle of the first laps, I cut the variant between turns 2 and 3, I slowed down so as not to take the penalty and then I was unable to recover from the group. A pity, I can’t wait to get back at work in Europe.”
Miguel Oliveira – P18
“As expected it was a hard race. I really hoped we’d finish with some points. We had good speed with the medium tire in FP4 so we thought that would be the tire for the race but it turned out to be the opposite of what we expected. After five laps it started spinning and was getting worse and worse. I couldn’t avoid being overtaken and we missed those points. We learned from this weekend and in terms of making changes. We now go to a track where we have been competitive in the past and where we know we can be competitive again. We will go there with zero negativity from this weekend and with full motivation.”
Raul Fernandez – P19
“It was not the result I had hoped for today, but this race was dedicated to Hervé Poncharal, and Thomas Galloux from WP, as it was both their birthdays. The race was really difficult, especially if your regular pace is in 2’05 and you try to go down to 2’04, you destroy everything (tyres, body). Anyway, the team did a great job again this weekend and we will continue the learning process in Europe, where we are hoping to get better results.”
Remy Gardner – P20
“It was not a great day. After 6 or 7 laps, I was physically exhausted, and I was not feeling comfortable on the bike. Towards the end, I managed to do a good lap, but I had to put my heart and soul to every corner, and to do that during an entire race is not possible. We also had a big drop with the soft tyres, so maybe we did not pick the right option for the race, and I think that we are still missing a lot.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P21
“We improved a lot during the weekend, but then the result in the race didn’t come. We still need to keep working and improving in every area. The race today was extremely hard, as I was losing a lot on corner exit: we’re still missing something in terms of electronics, so in the upcoming European back-to-back we will focus on that.”
Darryn Binder – P22
“All together it has been a difficult weekend, I crashed a couple of times, which definitely did not help with my confidence going into the race. Anyway, I started the race and made a mistake at the beginning, which made me fall back a couple of position. I then caught back up to a couple of guys and was fighting with the other rookies for a while, unfortunately we had a little technical issue and I had to stop at the pit lane with three laps to go. Overall, I felt like I learned a lot from this weekend. It’s been a really hard weekend physically and riding this bike around this track is super demanding. I’m just glad I was able to get a lot of laps and now I know exactly on what I need to work on, get stronger and fitter and be ready for Portimao.”
Alex Marquez – DNF
“We suffered a lot this weekend. On Sunday we didn’t even finish the race, we managed five and a half laps, but I’m quite happy. I recovered some confidence during the warm-up, I was quite constant and I was able enjoy a little bit. During the race, I made a good start, was able to overtake some guys and had a good rhythm, but I made a mistake, for which I want to apologise to the team for. Anyway, I want to try and keep this feeling for Portimao, we know we have to improve and score more points, but I’m motivated for Portugal and at least we have some things to take from this weekend.”
Marco Bezzecchi – DNF
“A much shorter race than expected after a positive weekend. We have struggled on Friday, but today in the warm up we were fast and the pace was also very good. Unfortunately, the mistake was not needed, I then tried to get back on track to finish the race and gain experience but I saw the flag. Let’s analyse the data, understand exactly what happened and try to take all the positive of this GP for the future.”
Team Managers
Livio Suppo – Suzuki Team Manager
“Our riders had a great race today; both showing determination but balancing it with smooth moves and careful consideration. Both Alex and Joan had really nice pace, the GSX-RR was also working well, and this makes us feel good. I’m proud to be part of this Suzuki squad on the day the brand takes its 500th podium, it’s a special feeling. Now let’s stay grounded and keep our focus on Europe.”
Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager
“We are very happy with today’s result. We had a podium with Alex last week in Argentina, and we were able to repeat it here at a very different track. This was a ‘classic Suzuki race’ in the sense that we didn’t start high up but we kept our determination and fighting spirit, then both Alex and Joan got the best from themselves and their bikes. It was an excellent way to celebrate 500 podiums for Suzuki. We’ve had a consistent start to the season, and now we’ll go to the European rounds to try and keep this momentum and aim for a win.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
We already expected a tough race, and both riders got the maximum out of today‘s race in this current situation. Fabio rode both defensively and on the attack. He always gives his 100%, but today he added another 10% if possible. For Franco the race was even more difficult because he started from 19th place, which is far from ideal. But as the race progressed, he got more and more used to a new setting that he was trying, and he was able to overtake. Unfortunately, he lost the championship point he scored because of a penalty. We‘re not satisfied with our results so far after the first four races overseas. We are looking forward to going back to Europe to circuits that suit us better.
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager
“A tough weekend. We tried to get the best from the race. Brad nearly finished 9th but had a moment with [Johann] Zarco with two laps to go and lost two positions because of this contact. We will analyze deeply why we had a hard time here this weekend and will be a bit more aggressive for the next Grand Prix. Overall, here I don’t think it is as bad and what we see in the results, today especially we found some good points and maybe we were a bit too conservative on the first day and stretched our problems. A learning experience and we will work better.”
Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager
“What an incredible MotoGP race here in Austin. I hope that the fans who attended the event really enjoyed the show, because it was awesome. It might sound difficult to understand that we can be happy, but I am reasonably happy because our two riders completed the 20 laps. This track on a MotoGP bike is by far the most demanding physically. Remy, who was not able to train and prepare like he would have wanted due to his wrist injury before the start of the season, suffered a lot today. He arrived in the pit box very tired, so I want to thank him for holding on and doing a good MotoGP rookie race.
“On the other side, Raul Fernandez did not have a good start and he found himself last at the end of the first lap, but he managed to recover a few positions. Already in Argentina, he learned a lot, but today with Dovizioso and Morbidelli ahead of him, he continued to learn even more. He did a good race in the end, and finished behind Miguel Oliveira. We know that this is not enough, but we are here to learn and pass on as much knowledge and feedback as we can to KTM Factory engineers in order to speed up the development of the RC16. This is what we are doing, so I would like to thank both Remy and Raul, and the team.”
Razlan Razali – Team Principal WithU Yamaha RNF
“Overall, it was a difficult weekend for both of our riders, Andrea and Darryn. However, we are a bit happy with a single point we finally got from Andrea. It was a tough race for Darryn, who struggled all weekend trying to understand the bike at this demanding Circuit of the Americas. We just have to take away the good points and get ready for the first European race in two weeks’ time in Portimao. In summary, it has been a challenging back to back rounds in Termas de Rio Hondo and here in Texas, but we have got valuable data that we can look into in order to improve ourselves for the remainder of the races. We look forward to Portugal, will just get back to work and do the best we can.”
Wilco Zeelenberg, Team Manager WithU Yamaha RNF
“It has been a very demanding race weekend on a very demanding race track. Obviously both riders are quite disappointed. Andrea got one point, but he was definitely not happy finishing the race 29 seconds behind the leader. Anyway, he tried his best and he fought until the end, at least he got one point for that. Darryn had a tough weekend likewise with some fall offs in practice, but in the race, I think he did, what he needed to do. He followed the group and stayed with them until the final laps when he felt that his engine was holding back, so there was an electronic issue and he had to come in. Actually, he continued, but it was good he came in for safety reasons. It wasn’t nice to see that another time, we faced a problem in the race. Even if he was in the back, it was not nice, because the situation could have been different as well, so we have to dig into it. I can’t wait to return to Europe now.”
Piero Taramasso – Michelin Two-Wheel Motorsport Manager
“This was another interesting weekend for us due to the new track surface between Turns 2 and 10, and Turns 12 to 15 but the tyre allocation worked very well. It allowed the riders to post fast lap times from day one, and this was further highlighted by the fact that two riders beat the previous all-time lap record during Q2. During the race, the windy conditions added to the challenge for the riders, but the consistent grip of the tyres from start to finish meant that the fans were treated to a thrilling race. The icing on the cake for us being the new all-time circuit lap record, the new race lap record, and the new race duration record – beating the previous best race time by almost 20 seconds.”
2022 Aragon MotoGP Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Man | Gap |
| 1 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | DUCATI | – |
| 2 | Alex RINS | SPA | SUZUKI | +2.058 |
| 3 | Jack MILLER | AUS | DUCATI | +2.312 |
| 4 | Joan MIR | SPA | SUZUKI | +3.975 |
| 5 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | DUCATI | +6.045 |
| 6 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | HONDA | +6.617 |
| 7 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | YAMAHA | +6.760 |
| 8 | Jorge MARTIN | SPA | DUCATI | +8.441 |
| 9 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | DUCATI | +12.375 |
| 10 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | APRILIA | +12.642 |
| 11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | APRILIA | +12.947 |
| 12 | Brad BINDER | RSA | KTM | +13.376 |
| 13 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | HONDA | +17.961 |
| 14 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | HONDA | +18.770 |
| 15 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | YAMAHA | +29.319 |
| 16 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | YAMAHA | +29.129 |
| 17 | Luca MARINI | ITA | DUCATI | +29.630 |
| 18 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | KTM | +32.002 |
| 19 | Raul FERNANDEZ | SPA | KTM | +37.062 |
| 20 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | KTM | +42.442 |
| 21 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO ITA | ITA | DUCATI | +42.887 |
| 22 | Darryn BINDER | RSA | YAMAHA | +1m42.171 |
MotoGP Championship Points Standings
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
| 1 | BASTIANINI Enea | ITA | 61 |
| 2 | RINS Alex | SPA | 56 |
| 3 | ESPARGARO Aleix | SPA | 50 |
| 4 | MIR Joan | SPA | 46 |
| 5 | QUARTARARO Fabio | FRA | 44 |
| 6 | BINDER Brad | RSA | 42 |
| 7 | MILLER Jack | AUS | 31 |
| 8 | ZARCO Johann | FRA | 31 |
| 9 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | POR | 28 |
| 10 | MARTIN Jorge | SPA | 28 |
| 11 | ESPARGARO Pol | SPA | 23 |
| 12 | BAGNAIA Francesco | ITA | 23 |
| 13 | MARQUEZ Marc | SPA | 21 |
| 14 | VIÑALES Maverick | SPA | 19 |
| 15 | MORBIDELLI Franco | ITA | 14 |
| 16 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | JPN | 12 |
| 17 | MARINI Luca | ITA | 10 |
| 18 | BEZZECCHI Marco | ITA | 7 |
| 19 | BINDER Darryn | RSA | 6 |
| 20 | MARQUEZ Alex | SPA | 4 |
| 21 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | ITA | 3 |
| 22 | GARDNER Remy | AUS | 1 |
2022 MotoGP Calendar
| Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
| 24 Apr | Portugal | Algarve |
| 01 May | Spain | Jerez |
| 15 May | France | Le Mans |
| 29 May | Italy | Mugello |
| 05 Jun | Catalunya | Catalunya |
| 19 Jun | Germany | Sachsenring |
| 26 Jun | Netherlands | Assen |
| 10 Jul | Finland | KymiRing |
| 07 Aug | Great Britain | Silverstone |
| 21 Aug | Austria | Red Bull Ring |
| 04 Sept | San Marino | Misano |
| 18 Sept | Aragón | Aragón |
| 25 Sept | Japan | Motegi |
| 02 Oct | Thailand | Chang |
| 16 Oct | Australia | Philip Island |
| 23 Oct | Malaysia | Sepang |
| 06 Nov | Comunitat Valenciana | Valencia |
