Points & Podium for Espargaro and Oliveira at Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas RACE 3rd Rd. MotoGP 2018, Circuit Of The Americas (USA) MotoGP The KTM RC16s of both Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro lined up next to each other on the fifth row of the grid for the twenty lap dash around the long, arduous and bumpy COTA layout. Smith made an excellent leap once the red light disappeared and was briefly holding a top ten spot while Espargaro had to work to make ground from fifteenth. From lap eight the KTMs had a great tussle for a mid-pack slot until Smith’s choice of a medium front tyre resulted in #38 having to slow his pace. Pol guided his #44 machine to 13th and a second points-scoring classification in a row that leaves him 14th in the young championship standings. Espargaro: “It was hard to change direction and hold these big bikes here! Each corner is hard but I think we did a good race and had a good weekend overall. Maybe we could have improved the setting a bit more because we were quite far from the others and this means we were ‘different’ and making some mistakes; I think we paid for that front tyre in the race. Overall I think we must be happy, we can take these three points and go back to Europe with more experience. I’m happy to go to Jerez because for these three races outside of Europe we don't have that much info or data and it’s tough. We’ll go back and we’ll have Mika (Kallio) there to help us.”  Smith: “It was a good weekend and I felt like I had some pace especially in the beginning where I made up three positions and was fighting with Jorge (Lorenzo). We took a gamble: Pol went with the soft front tyre and I went with the medium and with these temperatures I thought it would work but it just went off and there was nothing I could do. I held-in there until lap twelve and then it was understeering everywhere. I knew it might happen…but was hoping it didn't! This is all part of the learning experience and figuring out what works with this motorcycle and how to improve. It is a bit frustrating to come away without any points but things were looking up this weekend so we have to be happy with that.” Mike Leitner (Team Manager MotoGP): “To be fair this track is already difficult for other manufacturers that have been in this business for a long time and it was hard for us last year. It is a long, hard and bumpy layout. You need a very balanced bike to make a fast and stable lap-time and somehow we managed to give Pol something to take 13th position and we should be happy with these points. We’ll head back to Europe now and look to keep-on improving.”   Moto2 Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder were both part of a multi-rider scrap for the final podium place in Moto2. The Portuguese was able to separate from the group on his KTM Moto2 and even closed to the rear wheel of Alex Marquez in the last few laps but finally had to settle for third and his second rostrum appearance in a row (and sixth from the last eight races). Miguel now sits fourth in the standings. Binder was involved in a tussle for fifth that went down to the line and was just pipped to the position by Iker Lecuona. Oliveira: "I am very tired after today's race, because it was a very interesting, demanding round, and also very tough when starting from a position so far back on the grid. The start was not easy, but in the end I was able to avoid contact with other riders on the first corner. Later, as the laps went on, it was difficult because we were skidding around a lot. It was not the perfect weekend for us, but we are back on the podium for the second consecutive race and this makes me happy. Now it's time to go back to Europe and face a circuit where we have ridden a lot: Jerez." Moto3 Moto3 was won by Jorge Martin but Redux PruestelGP’s Marco Bezzecchi finished third to claim his second podium finish in a row on the KTM RC250 GP and rests 3rd in the championship standings. Darryn Binder picked up his first points in 13th position. MotoGP will now travel back to Europe. The Circuito de Jerez in Andalucía will launch the European phase of the FIM World Championship in two weeks time.  Next Race: May 6, 2018 – Circuito de Jerez (ESP) Results MotoGP Circuit Of The Americas 2018  1. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda, 41:52.002 min (20 laps) 2. Maverick Vinales (ESP), Yamaha, +3.560 sec 3. Andrea Iannone (ITA), Suzuki, +6.704 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA), Yamaha, +9.587 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA), Ducati, +13.570 KTM 13. Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM, +37.264 16. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +48.475 Standings MotoGP 2018 after 3 of 19 rounds  1. Dovizioso, 46 points 2. Marquez, 45 3. Vinales, 41 4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR), Honda, 38 5. Johann Zarco (FRA), Yamaha, 38 KTM 14. Espargaro, 8 23. Smith, 0 Results Moto2 Circuit Of The Americas 2018  1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Kalex, 39:30.016 min (18 laps) 2. Alex Marquez (ESP), Kalex, +2.464 sec 3. Miguel Oliveira (POR), KTM, +3.704 4. Joan Mir (ESP), Kalex, 5.379 5. Icer Lecuona (ESP), KTM, +6.867 KTM 6. Brad Binder (RSA), KTM, +6.876 9. Dominique Aegerter (SUI), KTM, +10.595 Standings Moto2 2018 after 3 of 19 rounds  1. Bagnaia, 57 points 2. Mattia Pasini (ITA), Kalex, 47 3. Marquez, 47 4. Oliveira , 43 5. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA), Kalex, 39 KTM 8. Binder, 20 9. Lecuona, 16 10. Aegerter, 16 Results Moto3 Circuit Of The Americas 2018  1. Jorge Martin (ESP), Honda, 39:12.869 min (17 laps) 2. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Honda, +1.451 sec 3. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), KTM, +4.112 4. Andrea Migno (ITA), KTM, +4.172 5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA), Honda, +4.186 KTM 6. Philipp Oettl (GER), KTM, +4.374 7. Jakub Korneil (CZE), KTM, +5.452 10. Livio Loi (BEL), KTM, +8.711 13. Darryn Binder (RSA), KTM, +14.532 Standings Moto3 2018 after 3 of 19 rounds  1. Martin, 55 points 2. Aron Canet (ESP), Honda, 48 3. Bezzecchi, 43 4. Di Giannantonio, 37 5. Bastianini, 33 KTM 7. Migno, 22 8. Gabriel Rodrigo (ESP), KTM, 22 10. Jakub Kornfeil (CZE), KTM, 18 22. Binder, 3  >> LINK MOTOGP PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRRAY >> LINK MOTO2 PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRARY >> LINK MOTO3 PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRARY PHILIPP GRÜNBERGER PR MANAGER MOTOGP philipp.gruenberger@ktm.com 0043 664 6217921 www.motogp.com www.ktm.com | media.ktm.com  Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram