Twenty-year-old Spaniard Marc Màrquez has become the youngest ever winner of a MotoGP race after fending off team-mate Dani Pedrosa in the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.
In just his second ever weekend as a MotoGP rider, the Moto2 graduate had dominated from the outset, topping practice before becoming the youngest ever premier class pole-sitter.
Pedrosa was able to lead much of the race before Màrquez slipped by just after half distance.
The more experienced Spaniard stalked his younger rival for the remainder of the going, but lost valuable tenths just three laps from home, leaving the winning margin at a relatively comfortable 1.5s.
Màrquez now jointly leads the championship with Qatar winner Jorge Lorenzo, who was a further two seconds adrift of Pedrosa in third.
Satellite Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow scored a strong fourth after getting the better of eventual fifth place finisher Stefan Bradl.
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Valentino Rossi failed to muster the sort of form he showed in Qatar on his way to sixth ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, Alvaro Bautista, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Iannone.
As expected, Aleix Espargaro was too strong in the CRT ranks, finishing 11th outright.
Australian Bryan Starring was 20th and the last of the finishers on the lead lap.
The MotoGP World Championship will continue on May 5 at Jerez, Spain.
See below for the full race result
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 43’42.123 |
| 2 | Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +1.534 |
| 3 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +3.381 |
| 4 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +6.616 |
| 5 | Stefan BRADL | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | +12.674 |
| 6 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +16.615 |
| 7 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | Ducati | +22.374 |
| 8 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | +22.854 |
| 9 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati Team | Ducati | +33.773 |
| 10 | Andrea IANNONE | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | Ducati | +42.112 |
| 11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | +48.837 |
| 12 | Bradley SMITH | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +50.705 |
| 13 | Ben SPIES | Ignite Pramac Racing | Ducati | +1’14.132 |
| 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | +1’15.651 |
| 15 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | +1’19.591 |
| 16 | Michael LAVERTY | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM | +1’34.391 |
| 17 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Avintia Blusens | FTR | +1’39.823 |
| 18 | Hector BARBERA | Avintia Blusens | FTR | +1’39.952 |
| 19 | Claudio CORTI | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR Kawasaki | +1’46.773 |
| 20 | Bryan STARING | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | FTR Honda | +1’48.084 |
| 21 | Blake YOUNG | Attack Performance Racing | APR | 1 Lap |
| DNF | Danilo PETRUCCI | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 8 Laps |
| DNF | Lukas PESEK | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 8 Laps |
See below for the updated points standings
|
Pos. |
Rider |
Points |
| 1 | Marc MARQUEZ | 41 |
| 2 | Jorge LORENZO | 41 |
| 3 | Dani PEDROSA | 33 |
| 4 | Valentino ROSSI | 30 |
| 5 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | 24 |
| 6 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | 18 |
| 7 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | 18 |
| 8 | Nicky HAYDEN | 15 |
| 9 | Andrea IANNONE | 13 |
| 10 | Stefan BRADL | 11 |
| 11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | 10 |
| 12 | Ben SPIES | 9 |
| 13 | Randy DE PUNIET | 6 |
| 14 | Bradley SMITH | 4 |
| 15 | Hector BARBERA | 3 |
| 16 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | 3 |
| 17 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | 1 |
