#CircuitOfTheAmericas

Can’t make it to Austin for this weekend’s races at Circuit of the Americas? If you can’t catch the MotoGP and MotoAmerica action, then at least you can experience a lap of the COTA circuit on a BMW S1000RR in this 360° video from GoPro.

After an exhausting, confusing and ultimately revelatory weekend in Argentina, MotoGP boogies 4500 miles north to Austin, deep in the heart of Texas, for Round 3 of the 2016 season. Since its inception in 2013, the pretentiously-named Circuit of the Americas has hosted an annual Honda clambake, the other teams invited mostly to fill the grid and add to the festival atmosphere. Repsol Honda pretty boy Marc Marquez has started and won from pole all three years, and looks ready to do the same on Sunday.

Cast your vote for who’s gonna win this week’s MotoGP race in Austin. Hint: Marc Marquez has won every MotoGP race held at COTA since the track’s Grand Prix debut in 2013. Can he make it 4 in a row?

In recognition of National Motorcycle Awareness Month, I’m going to link to my editorial from 12 months ago because I can’t think of much else to say about it.

Repsol Honda reigning champion Marc Marquez extended his winning streak in the U.S. to six, taking an easy win at Circuit of the Americas by a country mile over Ducati #1 Andrea Dovizioso who had himself fought off several challenges from Yamaha former world champion Valentino Rossi. Confirming that Losail was an outlier, and tightening the standings at the top of the premier class food chain, COTA was revealing.

For the second year in a row, The Grand Prix of Qatar delivered a riveting race with unexpected results. The 2014 edition saw putative race favorite Jorge Lorenzo dump his Yamaha M1 on the first lap, paving the way for a cage match between teammate Valentino Rossi and defending Repsol Honda world champion Marc Marquez in which Marquez prevailed by a quarter second. A year later, it was the favorite Marquez going walkabout on Lap 1, setting up a night-long rumble between the factory Yamahas and the factory Ducatis (what?) in which Rossi eventually pipped Andrea Dovizioso at the flag.

How many MotoGP/500cc World Champions open their homes to a group of our ilk I’m not sure, but Kevin Schwantz didn’t seem to mind. The catered BBQ at his crib was the ending highlight of the 2015 Suzuki GSX-S750 press launch. For a 22 year-old new to motorcycling and the spectacle that is Grand Prix motorcycle racing, you were born the same year Kevin Schwantz won the 500cc World Championship.

Two weeks ago I attended the Grand Prix of the Americas, at the Circuit Of The Americas in Austin, Texas. It was my first time going to Austin, my first time at the track, but not my first time attending a MotoGP race. However, this time was different. For once, I didn’t have a media credential. I didn’t have to wake up early, dart to the track, setup shop in the media room, and watch the action from a television screen 100 yards away from where it was all happening.

Following the second round of the MotoGP world championship at the Circuit Of The Americas in Austin, Texas, April 11-13, Suzuki’s MotoGP team stayed in the Lone Star state to continue testing and developing their MotoGP contender. Motorcycle.com was at the test, where a select group of journalists interviewed Davide Brivio, Suzuki MotoGP Team Manager prior to testing. The topics varied widely, but Brivio was candid in his responses (at least as candid as someone in his position can be), revealing interesting tidbits many may find insightful. Below is the transcript from the interview.

Any doubt that Repsol Honda wonder Marc Marquez is giving Movistar Yamaha star Jorge Lorenzo anxiety attacks was erased roughly two seconds before the start of today’s Grand Prix of the Americas. Lorenzo, desperate to regain some momentum after a disastrous performance in Qatar, jumped the start as badly as a teenaged bridegroom on his wedding night. Confusion at the start gave way to a fairly predictable outcome in this, the season of Jorge Lorenzo’s discontent.

When last we saw our helmeted heroes in action – it seems like months ago – Honda’s brilliant Marc Marquez out-raced grizzled Yamaha veteran Valentino Rossi to the flag in a riveting season opener in Qatar. Rossi’s teammate and two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo lost his marbles on Lap One, ending up in the kitty litter, any chance he might have had for a third premier class title vanishing in a puff of smoke and a shower of sparks.