Alex Rins once again demonstrated why he is one of the hardest competitors to beat while battling at the front of a grid in only his third race for LCR Honda. The Spaniard's unexpected triumph on a sunny afternoon in Texas was the team's first since Cal Crutchlow of Great Britain won in Argentina, in 2018. It was also the first Honda victory since Crutchlow's triumph by a rider other than fellow countryman and six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, who was sidelined this time due to injury.
Rins was just behind Ducati’s World Champion Francesco Bagnaia by 0.479 seconds after the first five laps. Bagnaia lost 25 points when he made an unforced error on the eighth of 20 laps and crashed—for the second time in two weekends—after appearing poised to retake the championship lead with his second double victory of the year.
This was enough for Alex to take the lead in the race. He quickly increased his speed and was in the first position in the race. The race saw a lot of racers crash out of the competition as only 13 racers managed to complete the entire circuit of the race.
After his convincing victory, Rins exclaimed, "I'm really delighted for this victory but also for the weekend. We had a great weekend after entering Q2 immediately on Friday.” Rins moves up to the third position in the MotoGP 2023 league table, six points behind Bagnaia for whom this blunder was followed by another one he committed in Argentina.
