MotoGP prepares to hit COTA this weekend – Preview – Schedule

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round Three – Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas
Circuit Of The Americas – Preview

Due to the cancellation of the Argentina GP, originally scheduled for April 7th, the MotoGP paddock had two consecutive weekends off. This weekend they get back down to business in Texas, the only remaining stop on the American continent.

One of the distinctive features of this circuit is the 41-metres of elevation change between the highest point, represented by the first turn with a gradient exceeding 11 per cent, and the lowest.

Alongside Italy, the USA is the nation that has had the most world champion riders in the premier class, with six in 500 cc and one in MotoGP. Yet, in the last 2 years, there hasn’t been an American rider who competed in MotoGP: the last one was Garrett Gerloff, who raced in Assen (Netherlands) in 2021, replacing the injured Franco Morbidelli. The last American to compete in an entire MotoGP championship was the late Nicky Hayden back in 2015.

Back to the present day, Jorge Martin has a pretty handy 18-point buffer after only two rounds of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship. As the combatants arrive at COTA this week, South African Brad Binder is running him closest, followed by Enea Bastianini.

Bastianini is one of only three riders in the field who’ve won at COTA and after nipping at Martin’s tail by the end of the GP race in Portugal, the ‘Beast’ will want to come out swinging.

Meanwhile, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) arrives fresh from his first premier-class podium and still very much riding a wave of fully deserved hype. Can he maintain the roll at COTA and finish as top RC16 again?  COTA’s bumps, its 20 corners and changes of directions make the American layout one of the most physically challenging of the season. Although the young Shark’s fast adaptation to the queen category has been impressive, it will be interesting to witness how he gets on with COTA on the MotoGP machine, on a circuit that he particularly enjoys after he won the edition in Moto2 last season.

Pedro Acosta

“We are heading to Austin after a very good weekend in Portugal. I have had time to train well and assimilate the last race, seeing what we did well and what we did wrong. COTA is a very nice circuit but one where we will have to work hard to continue with our main objectives. Let’s go for it!”

There was already plenty to talk about in the fight just behind the top three in Portugal, even before ‘that’ moment between Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

So now, we have an eight-time World Champion with seven wins at COTA, plus one comeback from dead last to sixth.  In 2013, Marc Marquez became the youngest premier class race winner in Grand Prix history, at 20 years and 63 days. The Spaniard remained unbeaten at this venue until 2018 and returned to win here in 2021. His average points at COTA are 20.5 points per GP, having raced there 9 times with only one retirement and a sixth place as his worst result.  On a different bike, against different rivals, is Marquez about to prove a point, and at his 250th GP? Sunday will mark 903 days since his last victory, which was at Imola in 2021.

Meanwhile, Bagnaia, after showing stunning speed in the Sprint to win before crashing out of the lead on Sunday at COTA last year, knows just how sweet it would be to prove the exact opposite—at a talisman track like Aragon.

So what of the other drama in Portugal? Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) became a Tissot Sprint winner in style on Saturday, moving through to the front and then giving Martin no right to reply. He was also just about close enough coming out of the final corner on the penultimate lap on Sunday to at least still be looking for an opportunity to do the double. But it wasn’t to be as a late technical issue took the chance and those 20 points away, and they were 20 points that would have put him third in the standings. Can COTA bring some redemption, less for man and instead for machine?

Team-mate Aleix Espargaro, meanwhile, will want more too after a difficult weekend in Portugal looking for more pace, and Austin would be a statement place to find it after a tougher track record at the venue for the #41.

At Trackhouse Racing, Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez will be in the spotlight as the new American team prepare to race on home soil for the first time. Their bikes will be in downtown Austin, the sister NASCAR team will do a demo lap, the flags will be flying and the fans excited to see that incredible livery up close and personal. It’s also Raul Fernandez’ 100th GP so there will be plenty to celebrate.

Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had a pretty successful Sunday he can use as a springboard to try and home in on the podium fight, and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) wrung a solid result out on the Algarve too as Yamaha look for more progress.

Yamaha have confirmed they’ll continue doing so with ‘El Diablo’ too as the Frenchman has been announced as staying for another two seasons.

On the other side of the box, team-mate Alex Rins will want to stay the course over race distance in the coming weekends, but this one in particular will be very interesting after he won here in awesome style last seasoning what was only his third weekend on the Honda. Now it’s his third weekend on the Yamaha, and his speed at COTA across the classes has been proven on plenty of occasions, as well as on two different premier class machines.

There were some positive signs for Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in Portugal with sixth on Sunday after a really tough opener. It’s not victory, but it’s a step towards it, onto more familiar turf.

Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) crashed out early on Sunday last time out. However, considering he missed all of pre-season due to the training crash he suffered at the very same venue, his speed itself was pretty noteworthy on the Algarve.

Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) should be noted for some positives from Portugal too, the 2020 Champion taking P12 but with quite some daylight ahead of the other Hondas, led by Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda LCR). The task is a group project to move forward for the Japanese factory, but the squabble for supremacy within had a very clear victor last time out. Mir also only had Quartararo ahead of him amongst those machines with the most concessions under the new system.

Joan Mir

“Going to America is always nice, we only get to see the fans there once a year so it’s important to put on a good show. We go to a third very different track in three races so we need to look and understand how the Honda is going there. COTA is one of the most unique layouts on the calendar and especially the first sector on track is very specific. Quite a lot of the track has been resurfaced since we were last here so I am looking forward to seeing how those changes impact the track.”

Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) had a notable step forward last time out, just missing out on the top ten in a close finish behind Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team).

‘Diggia’ is one looking for his Qatar speed and form over the latter half of 2023, and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) is another after he’d had Mir’s number in Qatar, although he is very new to the bike, and so far has the edge on fellow Honda debutant Luca Marini (Repsol Honda Team).

Texas was Luca Marini’s breakout performance in the premier class in 2023, the young Italian scoring his debut MotoGP podium with second place. After a pair of complicated races to start the 2024 season, the unique demands of Austin will be another opportunity for progress.

Luca Marini

“Austin holds a special place in my heart and I have good memories from last year. We arrive in a different situation this year but I am still positive that we can make more progress in America. It’s a very particular circuit in Texas and you’ve seen that Honda has had something there in the past. No matter the track, our focus and intention stays the same as we keep building this project.”

Last but by no means least, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) had a slightly AWOL weekend in Portugal, 13th in the Sprint and then crashing early on Sunday. Given his successes last season and a solid opener in Qatar, he’d be the first to say that the target is much more.

A new Championship leader with a gap that presents a conundrum between push and manage. A South African on the verge of becoming the rider from his nation with the most podiums, with a point to prove on his machine as well as to the rest. A rookie whose point is already somewhat proven, a ‘Beast’ finding even more beauty… and a bubbling rivalry between two riders with a combined 11 world titles, one of whom saddles up with seven COTA trophies already nestled in his trophy cabinet. It’s time for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas…

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2

Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) waited a long time for his maiden Moto2 win, but when it came it was in some style, and for the Championship lead. That’s something he’ll want to double down on at COTA, a track where he’s won in Moto3 and once been on pole by nearly a whole second. In the dry. With his Moto2 victory duck broken, can he rediscover that Texas pace?

Home hero Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) will be looking to impress again on home turf after taking second last time out, and fellow Algarve podium finisher Manuel Gonzalez (QJMotor Gresini Moto2) will want to show he’s here to stay at the front. The biggest threat, however, despite neither being near the top of the Championship as it stands, may well be the Beta Tools SpeedUp pairing of Qatar GP winner Alonso Lopez and pre-season title favourite Fermin Aldeguer.

It’s been bad luck and trouble for both to varying degrees so far. Lopez won Qatar and then crashed out the lead in Portugal. Aldeguer went the opposite way to many on tyre choice in Qatar and failed to even score… and then jumped the start in Portugal. But that didn’t end the show, it started it. The number 54 went on an incredible charge to come back from the requisite two Long Laps given for the jump start, getting his elbows out in the podium fight before ultimately being forced to settle for fourth. If both avoid drama, they’re likely to take some beating at COTA.

CFMOTO Asterius Aspar Team rider Jake Dixon will return to competition after suffering a heavy crash in practice in Qatar which ruled him out of the opening race and, although he travelled to Portugal with the intention of racing, after testing his condition in Friday practice, in a joint decision with the team, his recovery was prioritised and Dixon did not complete the Grand Prix. Three weeks later, Dixon arrives in Austin with his batteries recharged and eager to get back on the bike.

Jake Dixon

“I have spent the last few weeks recovering and rehabbing. Fortunately, I am getting better every day, but it is hard to know how I am really doing without getting on the bike. I am really looking forward to going to the United States and being able to ride in a race. For me, it will be the first race of the season, I will try to enjoy my return with the team and put the incident in Qatar behind me.”

Australian youngster Senna Agius doesn’t have the benefit of experience at COTA but hopes to add to his points tally in Texas.

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

After a masterclass from David Alonso (CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team) at Round 1, the Colombian was missing from the podium in Portugal as three key rivals hit back. Two stayed out of trouble after a more dramatic Qatar GP, but one simply went one better: Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3). That puts Holgado in the Championship lead, with Alonso looking to overhaul a seven-point gap in second.

David Alonso

“The Circuit of the Americas is one of the longest tracks in the World Championship and although I struggled to learn it last year, I really enjoyed it. It is a track with very different corners, where you have to fight with the bike, and I like that. After the race in Portimao, I now know more about how to manage the tyres and we will work on that all weekend. In the race, the tyres are a very important factor to take into account and we will be very focused to make the best choice of compounds and to manage them well. The objective is to try to be as competitive as possible in the final laps.”

Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) were the two who took their first podiums of the season on the Algarve, and after their Round 1 drama was also shared. Rueda will want to show he’s got staying power at the front and try and take that first win at COTA, whereas Ortola will be looking to go back-to-back. Last season, he took his maiden win at the track and in serious style, pulling off a miracle save and then charging back up the order.

Joel Kelso’s season is off to a great start with some great qualifying performances and podium pace. Kelso is currently placed sixth in the championship.

Countryman Jacob Roulstone is contesting his first season amongst the mad young men of Moto3 and will get his first taste of racing on American tarmac.

Moto3 Championship Standings

COTA MotoGP Schedule AEST

2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)

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