At MotoGP's Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas

The MotoGP circus came to Austin from April 8th to 10th for its only stop in the US. Attendance for the event was good, with a 10% rise over last year’s event.

Over 131,000 fans flocked to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for the weekend with over 56,000 on race day. Austin was also the season-opener for the second season of MotoAmerica racing.

As usual, COTA put on a world class event. The facilities are top-notch, the racing was great, and compared to other tracks, the food was outstanding. COTA brings in a variety of goodies from many of Austin’s best food trucks, and it’s a big step up from the normal vendor faire.

COTA did a great job of providing a full range of activities for their fans. As always, Ducati Island drew a large crowd with parking for the bikes from Bologna, live music, a display of the full range of Ducati motorcycles, and of course, a store in which you could purchase the newest Ducati accessories.

The Austin round also offered an extensive fan zone with all of the major companies displaying their wares. The big four Japanese manufacturers were well represented along with BMW, KTM, Aprilia, Moto-Guzzi, Harley-Davidson, and Victory. Polaris even brought its Slingshot three-wheelers for perusal.

If you weren’t in the market for a new bike, there were plenty of opportunities to buy accessories and clothing from many of the leading manufacturers or you could go for a demo ride.

As always, there were many autograph opportunities with riders from both MotoGP and MotoAmerica participating. Of course, the best way to see riders and get a glimpse of how their teams operate is by heading down to the paddock.

In my mind, the paddock is the heart and soul of the track. It’s a beehive of activity, with racers and mechanics running to and fro. The paddock was also packed with fans, and the teams spent a lot of time dodging them as they attempted to go about their business.

While in the paddock, I had an opportunity to spend some time with the LCR Honda team, and frankly, the choreography and level of effort that go into running a race team is astounding. It was a great experience to watch.

Paddock passes for MotoGP were not cheap, but if you didn’t want to drop that kind of money, the paddock for MotoAmerica was free and still gave a great opportunity to see our nation’s own race series in action.

MotoGP legends Wayne Rainey and Randy Mamola were in the garages all weekend (with Mamola’s son Dakota racing for HB Racing Meen Yamaha) and all of the teams were very accessible.

Unlike MotoGP, MotoAmerica lets fans see into the garages allowing unhindered views of the bikes and the preparation that goes into them.

Of course, the reason we go to the track is to watch the races. In MotoGP, Marc Marquez ran away with the race and extended his lead in the championship. The support class races in Moto2 and Moto3 were closer and offered good racing action, with Alex Rins winning in Moto2 and Romano Fenati winning in Moto3.

MotoAmerica offered some interesting racing with two surprising Superbike victories by Tony Elias on his Suzuki. Is it possible that the era of Yamaha domination in American road racing is coming to an end? We’ll see. Finally, Garret Gerloff won the season opener in 600 Supersport.

Overall, it was another great weekend at Austin. Hopefully, the increased attendance is a sign that fans realize the need to support motorcycle road racing. With only one MotoGP race on the calendar in the US and a rebuilding MotoAmerica series, the more we support racing, the more we ensure its survival.