Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez took his first win of this season on Sunday when he made it five from five in another perfect weekend at Circuit of the Americas.

Amazingly, Marc has won every Premier-class GP he has ever entered in the U.S., having also taken three MotoGP victories in Indianapolis and one in Laguna Seca; including his two Moto2 wins in the country, this is Marc's 11th consecutive victory in the USA. That said, the last time the Repsol Honda man had stood atop the podium was when he clinched last year's title in Motegi, Japan, last October, so this victory marked a welcome return to the top.

This win also adds yet another important piece to Honda's own domination in MotoGP events hosted in the USA. In fact, the last 14 MotoGP races on American tarmac have been won by Honda riders. (The last non-Honda MotoGP winner in the country was Jorge Lorenzo, at Laguna Seca in 2010.)

Honda has therefore won 17 of the 22 premier-class Grand Prix races that have taken place in the USA during the MotoGP era.

“This was a crucial race because after Argentina it was important to come back in the best way, so we are really happy with this result,” Marc said. “Although I won, it was difficult, because the temperature was much higher than yesterday. Five minutes before the start, I said to my chief mechanic, ‘Okay, let's use the hard tyre' because I knew that I would push the medium front tyre a lot. In the beginning I was just trying to understand the limit because I hadn't tried it a lot on Friday. I was behind Dani and when I saw that he was struggling a little bit and Valentino was challenging, I said, ‘Time to attack.' I was able to win, and I'm happy to be back in the championship.”

Second on the podium was Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi, who was handed a .3 of a second penalty after he crossed the line due to gaining an advantage when he re-joined the circuit after being knocked off by Johann Zarco, was far enough head of the third placed Dani Pedrosa that the penalty had no effect.

Unfortunately the second Yamaha of maverick Vinales failed to finish the race after a crash early in the race.

“Overall it's been a mixed day for us. Valentino did a fantastic job to take a very important second place. His start was good and played a vital role. He positioned his YZR-M1 exactly right and this allowed him to chase the leading duo. It was inevitable for him to go onto the run-off area after the incident with Zarco, but Vale's experience shone through again. He was quick to get his head down and at the end we get to celebrate a strong second place, even after the questionable 0.3s penalty. It was very unfortunate that Maverick's race ended early because, judging by the pace he displayed all weekend, he would certainly have been able to challenge for the victory. We have checked the data and there's nothing strange or different from what he has done since Friday. The front closed without any warning and he could not do anything to save it. It's a great pity because he was really confident on the bike, so we take that away from this race weekend as a positive. We're certain he will come back strong in Spain in two weeks' time.”

GP of The Americas – Race classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 43'58.770
2. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – +3.069
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – +5.112
4. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – +7.638
5. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – +7.957
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – +14.058
7. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – +15.491
8. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing – +16.772
9. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – +17.979
10. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – +18.494
11. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – +18.903
12. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – +28.735
13. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – +30.041
14. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – +31.364
15. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – +1'06.547
16. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +1'22.090
17. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – +2 Laps

Riders World Championship classification after the Americas GP
1. Valentino ROSSI – 56
2. Maverick VIÑALES – 50
3. Marc MARQUEZ – 38
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO – 30
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW – 29
6. Dani PEDROSA – 27
7. Johann ZARCO – 22
8. Jonas FOLGER – 21
9. Scott REDDING – 21
10. Jack MILLER – 21
11. Danilo PETRUCCI – 17
12. Alvaro BAUTISTA – 14
13. Jorge LORENZO – 12
14. Aleix ESPARGARO – 10
15. Andrea IANNONE – 9
16. Loris BAZ – 9
17. Karel ABRAHAM – 8
18. Tito RABAT – 8
19. Hector BARBERA – 8
20. Alex RINS – 7
21. Pol ESPARGARO – 2
22. Bradley SMITH – 1
23. Sam LOWES – 0