Alex Rins has taken a spectacular first MotoGP victory in Honda colours after picking up the pieces from another costly crash for Pecco Bagnaia to triumph in a crash-strewn Grand Prix of The Americas.

In a bruising race of sheer attrition, it was Rins that kept his head on a chaotic afternoon for many of the fancied contenders, holding his nerve to protect a comfortable lead that he inherited from Bagnaia's sensational crash at Turn 2 on lap eight.

Behind Rins, Luca Marini held his nerve to collect a maiden full MotoGP podium in second after prevailing in a tussle with Fabio Quartararo, who nabbed his and Yamaha's first top three finish of the year in third, the duo also capitalising from Bagnaia's premature exit.

The hot favourite coming into the race after his comfortable victory in the Sprint Race, Bagnaia had led from the first turn but just as he was coming under renewed pressure from a hard charging Rins, he dropped the Ducati for the second GP round in succession.

He wasn't the only one to wilt in the Texan heat, with nine riders retiring before the flag, among them Jack Miller from third, Alex Marquez and Jorge Martin in a lap one tangle, while Aleix Espargaro spinning out on the first lap too. In all, only 13 riders reached the finish, including Brad Binder, who was another to fall before remounting.

It was a dramatic end to a weekend that seemed to build in tension as it progressed, though the higher than average falls during practice and qualifying should have perhaps been viewed as more of a warning than it did for some riders.

Indeed, three of the anticipated podium contenders - Martin, Marquez and Espargaro - didn't even make it to the end of the opening lap.

While all riders survived the funnel into Turn 1, the subsequent jostling in the mid-pack - once more triggered by the VR46 Ducati riders getting boxed in at the apex - led to a busy swarm through the fast Turn 4-5-6-7 complex, with Martin running wide on the exit of Turn 5.

Allowing Marquez up alongside Martin, the Gresini rider found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when the sister Pramac bike washed out at Turn 6 take both Ducatis out of the race.

Espargaro, meanwhile, dealt a further blow to his title aspirations after a slow fall at the troublesome Turn 12 moments later.

Big hitters down and out, only 13 finish

With three big hitters out, it punched a few holes in the field, with Bagnaia keeping his nose clean up front, chased keenly by Rins and Jack Miller, the Aussie able to pick his way through to third.

From here, Bagnaia attempted to get the hammer down but after opening up a lead of more than 0.5s over Rins by lap five, the Spaniard began to fight back, hauling himself back onto the rear tyre of the Ducati coming into lap eight.

With Rins seemingly winding up for another round of jousting for the lead, in the end it was elementary as Bagnaia's hopes of a fourth win from six starts this season disappeared in a hail of gravestones at Turn 2.

An abrupt end to what had been an almost faultless weekend so far, the crash marked Bagnaia's second DNF from a strong position in the more lucrative full length GP, errors that had in effect cost him a full 45 points.

His despair though was joy for Rins, who likely wouldn't have believed his luck after not only seeing Bagnaia crash ahead, but learn that Miller looming behind him was also out.

The Australian had been making the most of his strong start to lap as quickly as Bagnaia and Rins ahead, until he tumbled out on lap seven. His sixth crash of the weekend, Bagnaia's exit just a lap later will leave Miller with a particularly bitter taste at his missed opportunity.

With just over half of the race to go, Rins now led Quartararo by two seconds, a margin that ebbed and flowed around that mark for several laps. Indeed, the Frenchman's hopes of reeling Rins in was being hampered by the close attention of Marini on his rear wheel, the pair having broken clear into their own private battle.

As expected though, Marini pulled the pin on lap 13 to stream past the Yamaha on the run to Turn 12, leaving him with seven laps in which to catch Rins, now 2.2secs ahead.

However, the Italian's challenge soon faded, the VR46 Racing rider instead focusing on bringing it home for a career best result instead.

LCR back on top in first MotoGP win since 2018

It meant Rins simply needed to keep it tidy to the flag, an accomplishment greeted by a rapturous reception from his LCR Honda squad celebrating its first win since the 2018 Argentina MotoGP.

Indeed, it was landmarks all round, with Rins' second win at COTA bringing his career tally up to six wins, while it was also Honda's first win since the 2021 Emilia Romagna MotoGP at Misano.

Perhaps more pertinently though, it marked a poignant return to glory for LCR, which has suffered especially from Honda's decline in form in its satellite role.

Marini stayed out of trouble to finish second, in so doing scoring his first main GP podium duck following his third place in the Argentina Sprint Race, while Quartararo got his and Yamaha's podium tally off the mark in third.

With Raul Fernandez, Stefan Bradl, Joan Mir and Takaaki Nakagami adding themselves to a growing list of retirees, and Binder throwing a top ten finish away with his own crash, there were some good top ten results up for grabs for some of the lesser fancied riders.

In fourth, Maverick Vinales will once again curse a truly awful getaway, the Aprilia left with work to do again early on, just as he was in the Sprint Race.

Showing pace as quick as Rins out front, he recovered to fourth place, leading fellow Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira over the line in fifth.

Though it wasn't a weekend to remember for Marco Bezzecchi, his safe run to the flag in sixth reaped rewards, despite ceding fourth late on. Indeed, despite the relatively modest haul of points, with Bagnaia failing to score, it means he remains at the head of the overall standings with an extended 11 point lead.

Johann Zarco completed his quiet afternoon in seventh, while Franco Morbidelli was a lonely seven on the second of the Yamahas.

Fabio di Giannantonio scored his second consecutive full length GP top ten result in ninth, while Augusto Fernandez collected his first MotoGP top ten finish in tenth as the best placed KTM rider.

In fact, it ended up being a fairly rewarding end to the weekend for the GasGas Tech3, with the high number of DNFs allowing Jonas Folger to score four points for finishing 12th.

Though the German spent his first MotoGP race in five-and-a-half-years comfortably off the back, he at least had something to show for his efforts, even staying ahead of a recovering Binder.

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MotoGP Race Results - Grand Prix of The Americas