Marc Marquez’s struggles at Qatar two weeks ago were a thing of the past at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where the two-time, defending MotoGP->ke2192 world champion reasserted his dominance to vault himself back to the world title picture. In doing so, the reigning world champion sent a clear message to the rest of paddock: the road to the MotoGP title still goes through him.

It didn’t take Marquez long to vault ahead of the race, doing so on lap 5 after starting the race in seventh position. From there, it was a picture-perfect race for the 22-year old, even leading the race at one point by over five second before finishing 2.354 seconds ahead of Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso for the win.

Meanwhile, Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi->ke1462 took the last step of the podium, 3.120 seconds behind Marquez with his teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, crossing the line in fourth place, 6.682 seconds behind the race winner. Ducati’s Andrea Iannone finished in fifth place, 7.584 seconds off of Marquez’s pace.

Conspicuous by his absence in the race was Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, who is still recovering from arm surgery. His replacement, Hiroshi Aoyama, struggled with his pace throughout the race, finishing in 11th place, 47.199 seconds off of his teammate’s pace.

In the end, it was Marquez who showed everyone why he is a two-time, defending world champion, winning at the Circuit of the Americas for the third straight year extending his unblemished run at the circuit since it became part of the MotoGP calendar in 2013.

Continue reading to read more about Marc Marquez's dominant victory at the Red Bull Circuit of the Americas Grand Prix.

Why it matters

After struggling through numerous issues at the Qatar Grand Prix, Marc Marquez needed to make a statement to let everyone know that his troubles in Qatar were all behind him. Well, he made a pretty strong statement, alright, serving notice to everyone that there’s a reason why he won the last two MotoGP world championships.

It was about as perfect a race the 22-year old could have asked for. He managed to steer clear of any mishaps in the opening lap and in just five laps, he was able to weave his way around the front of the pack, taking the lead from Andrea Doviziosio after just five laps. Once in the lead, Marquez controlled the action and cruised to victory in just 43:47.150 minutes, securing the precious 25 first place points and vaulting himself back into the title picture.

With Marquez cruising to victory, the most exciting duel in the race ended up being the fight for second between Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi. Both riders were neck-and-neck throughout the race and even almost colliding at one point in the race. But in the end, tire issues turned out to be Rossi’s undoing as Dovizioso managed to stay ahead long enough to cross the finish line three-quarters of a second ahead of Rossi to take second place for the second race in a row.

After two rounds in the 2015 MotoGP season, Rossi still leads the standings with 41 points, one point ahead of Dovizioso. With his win at the COTA, Marquez now sits in third place with 36 points with Dovizioso’s teammate, Andrea Iannone, in fourth place with 27 points. Rossi’s teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, sits within good distance in fifth place with 26 points.