2024 Americas MotoGP, COTA - Sprint Race Results

*Rookie.

Aprilia's Maverick Vinales escapes for a second Sprint victory in a row, on Saturday at the Americas MotoGP, as Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin complete the podium.

Pole qualifier Vinales held his advantage at Turn 1 then, after several laps being shadowed by Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta, suddenly blasted clear of the six-time MotoGP champion.

While the Aprilia star disappeared Marquez, Acosta and Jorge Martin bickered over best of the rest.

Having salvaged a second row start following two falls in qualifying, title leader Martin muscled past Acosta for third place just after the halfway stage.

But Marquez, whose position had looked vulnerable with some earlier out-of-shape moments, responded to pull clear of the Pramac rider and secure second.

Reigning double champion Francesco Bagnaia had a late front fender change on the grid, then wheelied off the line and plummeted from fourth to tenth at Turn 1.

The factory Ducati star struggled to make an impression for the rest of the Sprint and glanced at his rear tyre after finishing the race in eighth.

Vinales’ team-mate Aleix Espargaro caught Acosta in the closing laps but couldn’t quite attack.

Enea Bastianini and Jack Miller swapped sixth place in the closing stages as they finished ahead of Bagnaia, Raul Fernandez, Franco Morbidelli, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder, who fought from 17th after a qualifying fall.

Bastianini has now taken second in the standings away from Binder.

Fabio Quartararo was the top Yamaha in 15th, one place ahead of team-mate and 2023 Grand Prix winner Alex Rins.

Honda’s nightmare weekend continued with Luca Marini the only RC213V to reach the flag, in last place.

Fabio di Giannantonio was forced out by a technical problem on the opening lap, which also saw contact between VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez.

The others on the DNF list were fallers.

All riders chose the medium front and soft rear tyre combination, but the medium rear might be an option for Sunday’s full-length race.

• Americas Moto2: Latest Results
• Americas Moto3: Latest Results

The unstable COTA subsoil means there has again been a partial resurfacing ahead of this year’s MotoGP event, with new asphalt at turns 2, 9-11, 12 and 16-19.

Revised tyre pressure rules for 2024 mean riders must now stay above a lower front minimum of 1.8 bar (instead of 1.88) for 60% (instead of 50%) of a Grand Prix distance, or 30% of a Sprint.

The penalty for failing to meet this minimum in a Grand Prix will be a 16-second post-race time penalty, or an 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.