There are two self-explanatory ways that Marquez could lose his grip the top step: someone else could beat him, or he could make a mistake. The first has seen many try and fail, but the likes of Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), teammate Maverick Viñales and Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) have all been on the podium at COTA. Viñales also took his first Moto2™ win there and has shown good pace, most notably in 2017 when it looked to be headed for a Viñales-Marquez showdown before the former crashed, and last year when he took second. Then there’s Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) and although the Brit hasn’t been on the podium in Austin yet, and he’ll be on the war path to bounce back after his ride through penalty and jump start in Argentina. He’s still top Independent Team rider in the standings too, ahead of teammate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and fourth-place Termas finisher Jack Miller (Pramac Racing). Suzuki factory man Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), meanwhile, is the only man on the grid with a win at COTA in both of the smaller classes, so he only needs a MotoGP™ victory at the venue to complete the hat trick – and there was a Hamamatsu factory machine on the podium last year…

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