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A great race at last. Not even the execrable aerodynamics could get the better of the beautiful and peculiar Austin track, which with its sequence of turns - the snake - offered endless possibilities for overtaking of which Maverick Vinales took advantage, winner despite a hiccup at the start after a sensational comeback, a fantastic Pedro Acosta, whom we can now legitimately consider to be in the fight for the world championship, and Enea Bastianini, who picked up a third place at the expense of Jorge Martin thanks to his resilience and tire preservation.
In the shadows, on the other hand, was world champion Pecco Bagnaia, who ran a solid race, but was never really in the fight for the win, and not even for the podium.
Vinales with his Austin success is the first MotoGP rider to win with three different brands: Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia. An achievement he shares with Eddie Lawson, who was able to triumph with Yamaha, Honda and Cagiva.
The GP of the Americas allowed us to breathe in the excitement of the old days, when the heroes of the Golden Era were the ones fighting, and it is a pity that, having had the chance, Marc Marquez had to abandon the scene at the end of lap 11 trying to get the better of Acosta which, if he had succeeded, could have changed the outcome of the race.
With all due respect to those who finished behind - 6th Digiannantonio, 7th Espargaro, 8th Bezzecchi - the rest of the Grand Prix was underwhelming . But what did Austin tell us?
It's easy: Aprilia and KTM have caught up with Ducati, and while that won't be the case on every circuit, it puts a lot of pressure on the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, because confirming the title this year won't be a walk in the park. It was relatively easy when the opponents were, in 2023 in-house or, in 2022, an already waning Yamaha. It will be decidedly more complicated this year with the arrival of fresh talent like Acosta, or old, never tamed lions like Marquez. Because it must be emphasized: Marc was trying to put the eighth seal on his circuit on a GP23 ahead of the official factory bikes, and with a bike that might have won the world championship last year, but which Dall'Igna knows fully well to be inferior to the new prototype.
But that's the way races go, and to be able to talk you have to finish them, standing, or rather, riding the bike and not in the gravel traps. Understandable, however, the eagerness of Marc, who is working hard to earn himself an official bike and home next season. And he will have it, one way or another, with whoever has the balls to put the wolf in the box.
Indeed, we should think about the gap of the first of the GP23s to the finish line: almost 10 seconds, half a second a lap. The truth as always lies in the numbers.
Ah, by the way: it was a pole and double win for Aprilia. Welcome back BatMoto, that black reminds us of so many emotions and successes.
