10 things we learned from the 2023 MotoGP Americas Grand Prix

Despite a woeful beginning to 2023 for Honda, LCR’s Alex Rins gave the Japanese marque some much-needed hope after claiming its first win since the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP last weekend in Texas.

Rins is a Circuit of the Americas specialist and capitalised on yet another critical error for Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia.

But that doesn’t detract from the fact that his ending of Honda’s victory drought was a special ride from someone whose potential is often overlooked.

Bagnaia’s second successive grand prix crash has raised more questions about his ability to learn from mistakes, though he believes the bike is fully to blame for his spill.

At Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo capped off the weekend with a first podium of 2023 but feels the Japanese manufacturer needs to seriously consider radical changes to its bike.

At COTA, there were track problems, resilient performances through illness and a genuinely positive change in the mentality of MotoGP’s promoter Dorna Sports.

Here are the 10 things we learned from the 2023 MotoGP Americas Grand Prix.

1. Rins’ COTA perfection lies in his Suzuki DNA

It’s ironic that without Suzuki’s demise in MotoGP, Honda’s victory drought would have continued at the Americas Grand Prix.

Rins’ options for 2023 were limited, but a factory Honda deal to join LCR for two years showed HRC placed some value on his signature – even if at the beginning of the COTA weekend he was feeling somewhat like a spare part.

“I feel that Honda relies little on me; I feel untapped,” he said on Friday. “A small example is what happened in Argentina. After testing Marc’s chassis, which is different from the one Joan had been using, I asked them if they would also let me test Mir’s, to get an overall idea.

“I thought it was the right time to test. And they said no, even though they have spare units. I tried to talk to them, but they are very square. It’s not that they don’t listen to me, but that they don’t take advantage of me.”

As it happened, Rins was the only competitive Honda rider in Americas. Second in qualifying, second in the sprint and a grand prix win measured against Joan Mir being the next-highest on the grid in 13th and in the sprint in 12th, while no other Honda rider finished the grand prix apart from Rins.

Rins spoke of how the Honda needs more rear grip during the COTA weekend, as it really struggles…