After a thrilling Sprint on Saturday at the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, with Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Viñales taking the victory and another 12 Championship points. With great pace on show, it leaves Viñales in the position to fight for a Grand Prix win on Sunday, which leaves many questions unanswered and new records that can be set on Sunday. So have a look below at 10 amazing facts you need to know ahead of the Americas GP.
1. Viñales has qualified on pole, setting a new all-time lap record in Austin. This is his 15th pole in MotoGP™ and his second with Aprilia including his last in Valencia last year. He took his second successive Sprint win, and he is in the running to make history on Sunday by taking a MotoGP™ GP win with a third different factory.
2. Viñales, Jack Miller and Alex Rins all have the chance to win with a third different manufacturer, becoming the first to do so in the MotoGP™ era.
3. Rookie Acosta has qualified second, which is his best MotoGP™ qualifying and first front row. Aged 19 years 324 days old, he’s the youngest rider to qualify on the front row in the MotoGP™ era. He took his best Sprint result yet, P4, and will now be aiming to become the youngest rider to win in the premier class, taking the record from Marc Marquez (20 years 63 days old in Austin in 2013).
4. Aprilia and KTM/GASGAS riders will be aiming to give their manufacturer(s) their first podium at COTA. So far, the best Aprilia result here is P4, while the best for KTM/GASGAS is P8.
5. Marquez, the most successful MotoGP™ rider at COTA with seven wins, has qualified third as the top Ducati. This is his best qualifying since he was second in Mugello last year, and his best on a Ducati. He finished P2 in the Sprint, equalling his best Sprint result from Portugal last time out, and will be aiming to win for the first time since Emilia-Romagna 2021 (903 days ago). It would be his first Grand Prix win with Gresini and Ducati.
6. Reigning Champion Bagnaia has qualified P4 – so he’s not yet managed to qualify on the front row in 2024. The last time he failed to qualify in the top three in three successive races was in 2022 – the first three GPs of his first title-winning year. He finished P8 in the Sprint at COTA, his worst Sprint result since he was also P8 in Indonesia last year. When he then won on Sunday...
7. Martin, who crashed twice in Q2, has qualified sixth. The last two times he qualified sixth he crashed out of the GP (Indonesia/Valencia 2023). He finished P3 in the Sprint and is the only rider to have been on the podium in the opening three Sprints of 2024. He will now aim to take his seventh MotoGP™ GP win and equal Loris Capirossi in fourth place on the list of the most successful Ducati riders in MotoGP™.
8. Espargaro crashed in Q2 but still qualified seventh before moving forward to finish P5 in the Sprint. On Sunday, he will be aiming to take his first podium since Catalunya last year (when he took his third GP win).
9. Di Giannantonio has qualified eighth for his second-best qualifying result so far this year after Qatar when he qualified seventh. He retired from the Sprint due to a technical issue and will now be aiming to take his second premier class win.
10. This is the 63rd GP in a row with a Ducati in the top three in qualifying. Ducati will also be aiming to take their 12th win in 12 successive MotoGP™.
Can Viñales become the first rider to win with three different manufacturers? Tune in at 14:00 local time (UTC -5) to find out on motogp.com!