
Built in 2010 and 2011 and across a section of wild land a short distance from the Austin International airport, the Circuit of the Americas was a bold and ambitious project that fully delivered in terms of the layout, the stage and the spectacle. “When I first came here in 2013 it was fantastic. I said it was the best track I had ever ridden,” confirmed LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow. MotoGP had found a spiritual home and one that fitted the strength of the show that is routinely filtered through screens to an enrapt global audience.
The most-watched motorcycle racing series on the planet had pushed limits at Laguna Seca in California and tried to blend with steep American racing history at Indianapolis in the past but ‘COTA’ was idyllic: fast, curving, dropping and rising, long and unrelenting.
Much to the dismay of the MotoGP field the trajectory turned into a one-rider domain – an incessant hunting ground - for the technique and speed of Marc Marquez as the Spaniard marked the territory with six Pole Positions and six wins prior to the 2019 edition of the race. The Honda man’s unrivalled potency at COTA was evident again for what was round three of nineteen at the weekend. A seventh Pole fell on Saturday…but then – inexplicably – so did the world champion on Sunday.