2016 Argentina MotoGP: Marquez emerges victorious in an action packed race

Published April 4, 2016
Views : 3037
4 min read

Marc Marquez dominated proceedings in Argentina to register his first win of the 2016 in an action packed race and now he leads the championship standings ahead of Valentino Rossi

MotoGP fans couldn’t have asked for a better race as the Argentina GP started off with lot of drama. Scott Redding’s rear tyre had shredded with chunks of rubber flying off the bike during final practice. The above incident resulted in Michelin withdrawing both of its planned rear tyre compounds on safety grounds. A new medium rear, featuring a stiffer construction was made available for the race but there was a catch along with the new tyre that riders will have to switch bikes after the ninth lap and the race distance was reduced to just 20 laps.

An action filled start saw Andrea Dovizioso take the race lead followed by Jorge Lorenzo. Andrea Iannone bumped into Marc Marquez’s rear but the Spanish rider was able to maintain his position with minimal damage to the bike. Dani Pedrosa wasn’t as lucky as he ran wide to save himself from crashing out. Dovizioso maintained his race lead while Lorenzo was trying to close down on his race lead but Valentino Rossi was pressurising his team-mate for second position. The tactic worked as Lorenzo cracked and he was overtaken by Rossi, Marquez and Vinales overtook him. Marquez upped the ante and was in hot pursuit for the race lead, by end of the second lap, the Repsol Honda rider had grabbed the top spot with Rossi and Dovizioso trailing him.

Further down the grid, Lorenzo’s terrible weekend ended as he crashed out of the race and was visibly upset by his performance. At the front, it was turning out to be a great scuffle between Marquez and Rossi to the delight of the Argentinean fans. It was kind of a déjà vu moment between the both riders from Sepang as they switched places on few occasions. The intriguing battle had to be cut short as both the riders headed into the pits to switch motorcycles. This transpired into the turning point of the race. Marquez exited the pits ahead of Rossi who was pushed back to third position by Tito Rabat. With the Italian rider trailing Rabat, Marquez started posting blistering lap times to etch out a considerable gap.

On the other hand, the nine time champion was struggling for grip with the new bike as his lap times plummeted. By the closing stages of the race, Maverick Vinales and the Ducati duo had come within striking distance of Rossi. The Yamaha rider responded by increasing his race pace, to fend off the Suzuki rider. In his enthusiasm to pass Rossi, Vinales went on the wet patch of the track and lost control which resulted in the young Spanish rider sadly crashing out of the race. While the exit of Vinales gave some kind of relief to Rossi, it was short lives. Soon enough, Andrea Iannone was within fraction of seconds behind the Yamaha rider and it seemed that it will be a tall order for The Doctor to safeguard his second position. While Iannone and Rossi battled for second position, Dovizioso made a brilliant move to pass both his Italian countrymen to grab second place.

2016 Argentina MotoGP Ducati rider crash

The Ducati duo were slowly running away from Rossi for whom a podium position was out of the reckoning. But there was one last twist remaining in the tale. In a bizarre move which had no explanation, Iannone tried to late brake his team-mate for second position with just two corners remaining in the race. The fervent manoeuvre meant Iannone lost his front and took Dovizioso out of the race thereby denying his team a twin podium finish.

Rossi would have been thanking his stars as he got a miracle podium finish while Pedrosa took the final step of the podium. For race winner Marc Marquez, the win in Argentina will be very important owing to the manner in which he dominated proceedings and he now leads the championship ahead of Rossi.

Irishman Eugene Laverty crossed the line in fourth to register his best premier while a gritty Dovizioso pushed his Ducati across the finish line to end in 13th position and grab a consolation point. Iannone has been handed a three-place grid penalty for next weekend's Austin round, plus a penalty point for his move on his team-mate.

Was this article helpful

Yes No