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MotoAmerica, Elias like Márquez, six consecutive wins in Austin

Toni and Suzuki win the first Texan race, Beaubier's Yamaha and Gerloff on the podium. Anthony is 8th with Kawasaki, Wyman and Ducati finish tenth

MotoAmerica: Elias like Márquez, six consecutive wins in Austin

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Toni Elias and his enduro-style riding are a good match for the many bumps on the Austin track, which made things difficult for the MotoGP riders.

After winning Superpole, the Spaniard - charged up by a paddock full of friends who know him well - decided to take home the race win as well, making it two victories so fare in this MotoAmerica season. However, it was no simple task for the Suzuki rider: the factory R1 bikes ridden by Beaubier and Gerloff were lying in wait and it was a heated, but sportsmanlike three-way battle all the way to the end.

The finishing order had the Yoshimura GSX-R in the lead with an advantage of just 89 thousandths of a second ahead of the Californian's number 1 Yamaha:It rained a lot. The track was not the same as yesterday. Was so different - Toni said in the press conference- We finished and win this race. It’s amazing. I need to sit down with my team, work a little bit more, find something for tomorrow, especially with the rear grip.”  Despite having a less than perfect setup, Elias won for the sixth consecutive time in Texas, matching the endeavors of Marc Márquez, who has dominated here with his Honda MotoGP from 2014 through 2018.

Beaubier settled for second place on a track that just doesn't go down well for the three-time champ: Overall, really I felt like my R1 was working pretty good compared to the past few years here - Cameron commented after the race - I tried to go up the inside of him in the second-to-last corner because I felt like I was getting through that right pretty good. He tightened up his line pretty good going in there, just because obviously it’s the last lap. Then he didn’t take the same line he did, so I kind of had to square off that corner a little bit and I just had no drive going into the last corner. He got me going into the last corner. He stood it up, played it smart. There was nothing I could really do about it. Like I said, I’m happy with where are right now with the bike and with my riding and my team. I got a really strong teammate this year."

After some hard luck, Garrett Gerloff redeemed himself, racing in front of his hometown fans. The Texan started from behind and made a noteworthy comeback, finishing on the podium: “I was fired up from having to start in the back of the grid - number 31 said - It gave me some motivation and I was able to come back and be close to these guys for the last couple laps. In the last corner I thought I was going to have the opportunity to get up the inside but of course I missed a shift going in there and couldn’t get the thing into second gear. So, I came out of the last corner clear and just didn’t have the drive to try to pass at least one of them. It’s good. The bike was good. Ready for tomorrow and going to go give the best I got.”

By finishing on the third step of the podium, Gerloff knocked off Herrin, Elias' teammate in the Suzuki. garage. Then came the Glendale native, Supersport champion JD Beach, followed by Lewis and Scholtz who beat out David Anthony, who put in a good performance with the only Kawasaki Ninja on the track.

Kyle Wyman and his Ducati finished tenth, after being seen chatting with Andrea Dovizioso, the MotoGP rider for the 'Red' from Bologna. The American and the Italian swapped a few tips: Kyle gave pointers on how to avoid the potholes in Austin, and Andrea shed some light on what it means to race with an Italian bike.

 

Translated by Jonathan Blosser

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