World champion Francesco Bagnaia breezed to a comfortable win in the Grand Prix of the Americas MotoGP sprint on Sunday.
The Ducati rider started from pole at Austin and dominated the 10-lap dash to bounce back from his fall last time out in Argentina.
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Alex Rins on the Honda-LCR took second with Jorge Martin on another Ducati in third.
Marco Bezzecchi came in sixth to retain his lead in the world championship but only by one point from Bagnaia.
This was the perfect pick-me-up for ‘Pecco’ who had begun the defence of his world title in impeccable form in Portugal, winning both the sprint and grand prix.
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But Bezzecchi arrived in Texas with a nine-point championship lead after Bagnaia finished only sixth in the sprint in Argentina, and a lowly 16th in the grand prix itself.
He showed he meant business this weekend when nailing pole with a lap record, and built on that to cross the line over two and a half seconds in front of Rins in the third sprint of the season.
“I had more trouble in Argentina,” the 26-year-old smiled.
“I started well, and tried to push, do my pace, to build up a gap. Now I’ve got to focus on tomorrow, that’s going to be harder.”
Australian MotoGP star Jack Miller is further down the gird and will begin the race in 10th spot.