Bo Bendsneyder takes first Moto2 podium: “My grandfather died two days ago, it’s for him” | Other sports

Bendsneyder had his best qualifying of the season in Texas. He started on the second row, from fourth place, but had to give up a lot of places on the first lap. The Pertamina Mandalika team rider dropped to fourteenth place.

Then Bendsneyder stepped forward 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. He was greeted with loud cheers by his team.

Bendsneyder’s best Moto2 result to date has been fifth place twice. He succeeded in 2021 at the French Grand Prix and last year at the TT in Assen. In this race last year, he was in third place for a long time, but simply could not maintain this position. Bendsneyder also finished third twice in his debut season in Moto3 in 2016.

“To be honest, I don’t have many words for it,” said an emotional Bendsneyder. My grandfather passed away two days ago. It 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.

Bendsneyder took sixteen points for the championship. The motorcycle rider hasn’t scored any points this season. He crashed in the opening race in Portugal, then finished 22nd in the rain in Argentina. Zonta van den Goorbergh finished in seventeenth place and therefore remained outside the points.

Motorcycle racer Álex Rins won the United States Grand Prix. The 27-year-old Spaniard secured his LCR Honda Castrol team’s first victory on the Honda. Behind Rins, Italian Luca Marini was second and Frenchman Fabio Quartararo third. For Marini, the half-brother of racing legend Valentino Rossi, this is the first MotoGP podium.

Rins started the Austin circuit from second place behind reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia, who took pole position and won Saturday’s sprint race. Behind the two pilots, the Australian Jack Miller went from tenth to third place.

With fourteen laps to go, Miller slipped. A lap later, race leader Bagnaia suddenly lost control of his bike and crashed. Rins had a gap with Quartararo and Marini and he kept it.

This is Rins’ sixth victory in MotoGP. He took the other five wins in 2019 (2), 2020 and 2022 (2) on a Suzuki. Rins also won the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for the fourth time. In addition to a previous victory in MotoGP (2019), he also did it in Moto3 and Moto2.