March 29 (Reuters) – Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi extended his perfect start to the year by winning the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday for his third consecutive win of the year and fifth straight dating back to last season.
Bezzecchi led all 20 laps at the Circuit of the Americas where he crossed the line 2.036 seconds ahead of teammate Jorge Martin. Pedro Acosta, who finished third in Saturday’s sprint before a penalty dropped him to eighth, rounded out the podium.
Bezzecchi, racing a day after he failed to finish a sprint for the second time this season after a crash, also reclaimed the lead in the MotoGP standings with 81 points, four points clear of Martin who won Saturday’s sprint race.
With the win, Bezzecchi became the third Italian rider to win five in a row after Hall of Famers Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini. He is also the first rider to win the first three grands prix of the season since Marc Marquez in 2014.
“This is amazing. I mean, I wasn’t expecting a day like this after yesterday, because it wasn’t easy and I made a mistake, and it was important to bounce back,” said Bezzecchi.
“Luckily, my team, my squad, was very close to me, and they gave me the motivation to try to bounce back.
“But anyway, I wasn’t expecting a race like this, and I’m so happy — I really can’t describe my emotion right now. Very, very happy and proud.”
Polesitter Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 Racing finished fourth while defending Austin champion Francesco Bagnaia of the Ducati Lenovo Team was 10th.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)
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