Before embarking on a long journey through Europe, the 2023 MotoGP World Championship will take a final ‘dip’ in North America. The championship lands in the United States for the dispute of the third round of the season. After the double of Portimao and Termas de Río Hondo, MotoGP heads to Austin after a week of rest.
The majestic Circuit of the Americas hosts its tenth Grand Prix in MotoGP, since its arrival on the calendar in 2013 it was only left out in 2020 because of the pandemic. The nine previous editions have had a name above the rest, that of Marc Márquez, who has won seven times in Austin, where he also treasures seven poles.
The Repsol Honda rider won uninterruptedly from 2013 to 2018, losing the streak due to a fall in 2019 when he led with almost four seconds of advantage. In 2021 he recovered the path of victory and in 2022 he lost it again due to a problem of his Honda at the start that relegated him to the last position, climbing later to sixth. Apart from the #93, only Àlex Rins (2019) and Enea Bastianini (2022) know what it’s like to win in Austin in MotoGP.
However, the 2023 chapter will be another story. Marc Márquez has not recovered in time from the fracture of the thumb of his right hand that occurred in Portimao and will also miss the GP of the Americas after having caused loss two weeks ago in Argentina. Nor has another of the MotoGP winners listed in the palmares, Enea Bastianini, who continues to drag the fracture in the scapula after being run over by Marini in the sprint race in Portugal and has caused low since then. Those who will return will be Miguel Oliveira, the other great victim of Marquez’s mistake in Portimao, and Joan Mir.
Todo ello con un campeonato que llegará liderado por la gran revelación de la temporada, Marco Bezzecchi, que comanda la general tras su recital bajo la lluvia en Termas. Cuenta con nueve puntos de ventaja sobre Bagnaia, que sumó su primer ‘cero’ al caer en Argentina, mientras que el tercero es Zarco a quince puntos. Álex Márquez cierra un top 4 copado por las Ducati con 33 puntos, 17 menos que Bezzecchi, tras conseguir en Argentina su primer podio con el Gresini Racing.
| Top 5 MotoGP before the GP of the Americas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Pilot | Moto | Points |
| 1 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati | 50 |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 41 |
| 3 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 35 |
| 4 | Alex Marquez | Ducati | 33 |
| 5 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia | 32 |
In Moto2 there was a change of leader in Argentina after the sensational performance of Tony Arbolino, who won in the rain ahead of Alonso López and Jake Dixon.
Arbolino snatched the lead from a Pedro Acosta who succumbed in the rain (12th) and now leads with eight points of rent over Canet and twelve over Acosta.
In Austin will come the expected debut in Moto2 of Izan Guevara, who could not be in the first two races of the year after being operated on a forearm injury detected at the end of the preseason.
| Top 5 Moto2 before the GP of the Americas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Pilot | Moto | Points |
| 1 | Tony Arbolino | Kalex | 41 |
| 2 | Aron Canet | Kalex | 33 |
| 3 | Pedro Acosta | Kalex | 29 |
| 4 | Jake Dixon | Kalex | 26 |
| 5 | Filip Salac | Kalex | 22 |
And in Moto3, Dani Holgado managed to maintain the lead in Argentina despite the rain and arrives in Austin with two points ahead of Diogo Moreira, who has not been off the podium in the first two races of the year.
In the United States will be again David Almansa, the great sensation in Argentina after his stellar career in the rain replacing Kelso. He will try to get rid of the bad taste in his mouth from the fall he suffered on the last lap after being thrown by Odgen.
| Top 5 of Moto3 before the GP of the Americas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Pilot | Moto | Points |
| 1 | Daniel Holgado | KTM | 38 |
| 2 | Diogo Moreira | KTM | 36 |
| 3 | Tatsuki Suzuki | Sling | 27 |
| 4 | David Muñoz | KTM | 20 |
| 5 | Stefano Nepa | KTM | 19 |
Careers in ‘prime time’
The GP of the Americas will be the third with the new MotoGP competition format. It will be necessary to take into account the time difference with respect to Texas, where they are seven hours less than in mainland Spain and six less than in the Canary Islands. On Friday, April 14, the on-track action will begin with the first two practices of each of the categories. The combination of the two MotoGP tests will be the one that defines which riders go directly to Q2 on Saturday and which will have to go to the repechage.
On Saturday, April 15, the Grand Prix will intensify: Practice 3 of Moto3 and Moto2 will open the program and decide who goes to Q1 and Q2, and then the only free practice of MotoGP will arrive, which will be the prelude to the qualifying practice of the premier class. The Q1 and Q2 of MotoGP will be in the morning, in local time (17:50h and 18:15h in Spanish peninsular time) and that will have more value than ever, since they configure two starting grids, that of the sprint race and that of the test on Sunday. Then the fight for pole in Moto3 and Moto2 is disputed, before ending on Saturday with one of the first highlights of the weekend: at 22:00h (Spanish peninsular time) the MotoGP sprint race is held, scheduled for 10 laps.
Looking ahead to Sunday, April 16, only MotoGP will have warm-up, before the ‘Parade Lap’ of all riders. Then the moment of truth will come with the races of the three categories: at 6:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time) it will be the Moto3, at 7:15 p.m. the Moto2 race, and at 9:00 p.m. the MotoGP race will begin. The entire course of the weekend, from press conferences, training, and race to sprint and long races on Sunday can be followed life on DAZN.
2023 GP Las Americas Race Schedule
| Day | Category | Hour |
| Saturday, 15/4/23 | MotoGP Sprint | 22:00 |
| Sunday 16/4/23 |
Moto3 | 18:00 |
| Moto2 | 19:15 | |
| MotoGP | 21:00 |
All the schedules of the GP of the Americas 2023
| Day | Hour | Category/Session |
| Friday 14/4/23
|
16:00 – 16:35 | Moto3 / Práctica 1 |
| 16:50 – 17:30 | Moto2 / Práctica 1 | |
| 17:45 – 18:30 | MotoGP / Práctica 1 | |
| 20:15 – 20:50 | Moto3 / Práctica 2 | |
| 21:05 – 21:45 | Moto2 / Práctica 2 | |
| 22:00 – 23:00 | MotoGP / Práctica 2 | |
| Saturday 15/4/23 | 15:40 – 16:10 | Moto3 / Práctica 3 |
| 16:25 – 16:55 | Moto2 / Práctica 3 | |
| 17:10 – 17:40 | MotoGP / Free Practice | |
| 17:50 – 18:05 | MotoGP / Q1 | |
| 18:15 – 18:30 | MotoGP / Q2 | |
| 19:50 – 20:05 | Moto3 / Q1 | |
| 20:15 – 20:30 | Moto3 / Q2 | |
| 20:45 – 21:00 | Moto2 / Q1 | |
| 21:10 – 21:25 | Moto2 / Q2 | |
| 22:00 | MotoGP / Sprint race (10 v) | |
|
Sunday 16/4/23 |
16:45 – 16:55 | MotoGP / WUP |
| 18:00 | Moto3 / Race (14 v) | |
| 19:15 | Moto2 / Race (16 v) | |
| 21:00 | MotoGP / Race (20 v) |
MotoGP Las Americas, Austin 2023: how to watch the races live
The GP of the Americas 2023, the third round of the MotoGP World Championship, can be seen live on DAZN and Movistar. It is already the fifth season in which the streaming platform has exclusive rights to broadcast MotoGP in Spain, but its content can also be seen on Movistar from 2021. The entire MotoGP season can be followed exclusively on the DAZN application, or through Movistar by contracting the specific engine package that includes DAZN channels. In this case, it can be seen on DAZN 1 (dial 64).
As far as DAZN is concerned, the price has gone up this year to € 18.99 per month for the channels of the DAZN Essential package (MotoGP, F1, Premier League …) for monthly subscriptions. Other options are the annual plan with a single payment (€ 149.99 in one go, equivalent to € 12.50 per month), or the annual plan with split payment (€ 155.88 per year, the equivalent of € 12.99 per month). If you are not yet suscrit@ to DAZN MotoGP, you can do so via this link.
In MOTORBIKE MAGAZINE you will also find extensive coverage of the GP of the Americas. On our website will be available the chronicles minutes after the end of training and races, as well as all the information of the weekend, the statements of the protagonists and analysis of what happens in Austin. In addition, on Saturday (sprint race) and Sunday you can follow on our website the live broadcasts of the MotoGP races.
