The 2023 MotoGP™ Championship kicked off with a spectacular opening round at the Portuguese GP. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was the star of the weekend, putting in a dominant performance and claiming victory in both the first-ever Tissot Sprint and the Grand Prix race on Sunday.
The Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas was riddled with shocks and surprises as the 2023 MotoGP™ Championship plot thickened. Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) was the man of the moment who toppled the Tissot Sprint winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) who crashed out at the Circuit of The Americas following the pressure applied by the Spaniard.
Rins came away from COTA scoring the most points with a 2nd place in the Tissot Sprint and taking the Grand Prix victory, securing 34 points for his 2023 campaign. This moves the Spaniard up the pecking order in the Championship table as the Honda man leaps from 12th to 3rd in the standings. The big story in terms of the Championship fight however remains with the two Ducati men of Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Ducati). Despite taking the Tissot Sprint victory and putting himself back at the top of the standings on Saturday, with a non-score in the race the World Champion finds himself still trailing his close friend Bezzecchi who leaves Texas 11 points clear at the top of the pile scoring 14 points after finishing 6th in the Tissot Sprint and Grand Prix.
Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) promoted himself from 5th in the Championship table up to 4th. Despite finishing outside the points in the Tissot Sprint, the Aprilia man bagged 13 points from the race alone with a 4th place finish. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) dropped down the order following the weekend's racing and now sits just 1 point behind Viñales in 5th place as he only managed to take away 9 points from the Circuit of the Americas.
Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) made a considerable improvement on his Championship positioning after the Italian bagged 23 points from the weekend with a 7th place in the Tissot Sprint and 2nd place in the Grand Prix. Not only did he achieve his first MotoGP™ podium but the VR46 man also jumped from 11th to 6th in the standings. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) also made strides forward despite crashing out of the Tissot Sprint. 16 points and a podium was enough for the Frenchman to hop from 10th to 7th place.
There's still plenty to play for in MotoGP™ and the Championship fight is very much still on as the season throws up something new at every Grand Prix. No one can predict how the Championship will pan out with plenty of points still up for grabs. The next chapter in the Championship story commences at Jerez de La Frontera where Pecco Bagnaia will be eager to retake control of the standings.