Rins ‘on the limit’ before Bagnaia crash, Marini tried to ‘take revenge’

In what was just his third MotoGP race for LCR Honda, Rins proved that he is again one of the toughest opponents to beat when fighting at the front of a Grand Prix.

Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have both been beaten by Rins in a direct fight, and although Bagnaia won the Sprint after holding off Rins during the early stages, the pressure applied by Rins in the main race was telling.

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"I’m so happy for this victory but also for the weekend," said Rins after his dominant win. "We did a really good weekend since Friday when we went straight into Q2. 

"Qualifying in second position, finishing second in the Sprint and now getting the victory. 

"Honestly, Pecco showed us a really strong pace and I was struggling a little bit on the third and fourth sector and sector 1 and 2 I was pushing a little bit more on the limit in the chicanes to lose the gap with him."

Bagnaia, who led every lap until his fall, went down at turn two which gifted Rins the lead which he never lost. 

"After this crash I saw myself on the front and lost a little bit of concentration and for one lap these two guys [Marini and Quartararo] reduced the gap," added Rins. "But then I tried to not make any mistakes and ride by my own like I know." 

Rins’ win at COTA makes him only the second MotoGP rider after Marquez to win more than once at the Texan circuit.

And in doing so, he held off Luca Marini who at one stage was hoping to take revenge for Rossi when the retired nine-time world champion lost out to Rins in 2019.

Marini said: "Yeah I remembered that in one moment at turn one I had this image in my mind. I thought that it was maybe possible to take revenge but Alex is very strong in this track."

Rins responded to Marini’s words in the press conference by saying: "When I saw on my pit board, Marini, I said ‘whoa, keep going because he will try’."