Bo Bendsneyder finished on the podium in Moto2 for the first time in his career at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday. The Rotterdammer finished third in Texas two days after the death of his grandfather.
The 24-year-old Bendsneyder had his best qualification of the season in Texas. He started from fourth place, but had to give up a lot of places in the first lap. The driver of the Pertamina Mandalika team dropped to fourteenth place.
Then Bendsneyder advanced again. He gained place for place and on the final corner he moved from sixth to third behind winner Pedro Acosta of Spain and Italian Tony Arbolino. The Dutchman was welcomed by his team with loud cheers.
Bendsneyder’s best finish in Moto2 to date was fifth. He succeeded in 2021 in the French Grand Prix and last year at the TT in Assen. He also finished third twice in his first season in Moto3 in 2016.
“To be honest, I don’t have many words for this,” said an emotional Bendsneyder. “My grandfather died two days ago. This is for him. It was a long road to get here. That’s why I’m so emotional. I thank my parents and my grandfather: he helped me today.”
Thanks to his podium finish, Bendsneyder took sixteen points for the championship. It was also his first points of the season. He crashed in the opening race in Portugal and then finished 22nd in Argentina. Zonta van den Goorbergh finished seventeenth in Texas and thus remained outside the points.
Rins benefits from Bagnaia’s fall in MotoGP
In MotoGP, Álex Rins took the win. The 27-year-old Spaniard secured the first victory for his team LCR Honda Castrol. He left the Italian Luca Marini and the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo behind. For Marini, the half-brother of Valentino Rossi, it is the first podium in the premier class of motorsport.
Rins started the Austin circuit from second place behind reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia, who had taken pole position and won Saturday’s sprint race. Behind the two drivers, Australian Jack Miller advanced from tenth to third.
With fourteen laps to go, Miller slid down. A lap later, Bagnaia, the race leader, also suddenly lost control of his bike and crashed. Rins had a gap to Quartararo and Marini and he held onto it. He thus recorded his sixth victory in MotoGP.
The lead in the championship remains in the hands of Marco Bezzecchi. The Italian finished sixth on his Ducati and now has 64 points. That is eleven more than Bagnaia, who crashed for the second race in a row. Rins is third in the World Cup standings with 47 points.
