Going without a grand prix win since the start of the 2021 season prior to his acrimonious split with Yamaha, Vinales won the sprints in Portugal and Austin.
Despite being dropped to 11th from pole on the opening lap of Sunday’s 20-lap Americas GP, Vinales fought his way back to take victory by 1.728s to become the first rider in the modern MotoGP era to take grand prix victories for three different manufacturers.
Vinales beat Tech3 rookie sensation Pedro Acosta, celebrating his best MotoGP result, while Enea Bastianini denied championship leader Jorge Martin a podium with a late overtake.
Francesco Bagnaia was fifth after a tricky race, while seven-time COTA winner Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead on lap 11.
Acosta shot into the lead from second on the grid as poleman Vinales found himself dumped back to 11th in the Turn 1 melee.
An aggressive move for Martin to get up to third from sixth saw him force Bagnaia to sit up at Turn 1, nudging into Vinales and sending the Aprilia rider down the order.
Through the opening sequence of corners, Martin got himself into second behind Acosta and ahead of Bagnaia.
Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Martin made a move for the lead on Acosta into Turn 11 on lap two, but ran wide and let the Tech3 rider back past.
Behind, Marquez and Miller connected on the exit of Turn 11 as the Gresini rider attempted an overtake on the way into the corner for fourth.
Both survived the clash, but Marquez’s GP23 suffered wing damage to its left side. However, he moved ahead of the KTM at the final corner moments later.
Martin tried to take the lead from Acosta again on lap three at Turn 11, but ran wide again, before finally making a move stick on the fourth tour at Turn 7.
Marquez passed Bagnaia for third a corner later and took advantage of Acosta running wide at Turn 11 for second.
Vinales had worked his way up to seventh by the end of lap four as Martin led by just over three tenths from Marquez.
Marquez lined up a pass for the lead into Turn 20 on the fifth lap, but touched the Pramac Ducati’s rear wheel. Martin held the lead as Marquez dropped to fourth behind Bagnaia and Acosta.
Acosta took second from Bagnaia into Turn 1 at the start of lap seven, with Marquez passing the Ducati for third at Turn 8. Martin led by close to a second at this stage of the race, but Acosta and Marquez were able to bring him back into striking range come…
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