Photo: motogp.com
Marc Marquez won at Termas de Rio Hondo in the Argentinian GP, but there was so much more than his flawless riding that made this weekend a memorable one. For starters, the race was a flag-to-flag one, with the number of laps reduced to 20 because of safety concerns.
The tires and the changing weather, hot and humid, were the main reasons for the flagged race, prompting the riders to enter the pits during laps 9-11 to swap bikes. That was because of the damp track during the wet warm-up and the dry race that was later declared.
MM93 claimed another pole position, but it was Lorenzo who made the holeshot start, proving once more that he is an authentic master of this sport. The factory Ducati bike showed their potential as Dovizioso quickly got to the front, trailed closely by Rossi and Marquez, while Lorenzo dropped in sixth.
The track made a lot of victims, with Hernandez being the first rider to crash out of the race, and almost joined by Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro, who fell together but were able to rejoin the race. While Rossi made a pass on Dovizioso and the two were fighting, Marquez squeezed to the front and started to open a gap.
Iannone found himself in fourth, followed by a very fast Suzuki ridden by Vinales, who managed to pass the two Ducati and was - for the first time in his GP career - in a podium position. Lorenzo's day would only turn worse as he fell at Turn 1 after five 5 laps and was out of the race.
Marquez and Rossi entered the pits at the same time, and they swapped bikes quickly, but the Spaniard was lucky to rejoin the race in front of Tito Rabat, who had not changed bikes. With Rabat as a buffer between him and Rossi, Marquez was able to sprint ahead and was never caught again.
Rossi had visible troubles with the bike number 2 and struggled with it until the last couple of laps. His lack of feel allowed Dovizioso and Iannone to blitz past him, and for a moment, it looked like a podium was out of the question.
Still, at the last turn, Iannone lost the front while attempting to pass Dovizioso on the inside and crashed, taking his teammate down with him. Making things even crazier, Dovizioso pushed his bike across the finish line, completing the race in the 13th position.
The two Ducati crashing gave Pedrosa an unexpected podium and also granted Eugene Lavery a place in parc ferme as the best open class rider. Unfortunately, Vinales shared the fate of so many others, crashing out while in the third position. The eight names on the DNF list also include Redding, Baz, and Miller.
MotoGP heads over to Austin, Texas this week for the Circuit of the Americas race that sees Marquez leading the scoreboard with 41 points, followed by Rossi with 33, Pedrosa with 27, Lorenzo with 25, and Dovizioso with 23.
MM93 claimed another pole position, but it was Lorenzo who made the holeshot start, proving once more that he is an authentic master of this sport. The factory Ducati bike showed their potential as Dovizioso quickly got to the front, trailed closely by Rossi and Marquez, while Lorenzo dropped in sixth.
The track made a lot of victims, with Hernandez being the first rider to crash out of the race, and almost joined by Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro, who fell together but were able to rejoin the race. While Rossi made a pass on Dovizioso and the two were fighting, Marquez squeezed to the front and started to open a gap.
Iannone found himself in fourth, followed by a very fast Suzuki ridden by Vinales, who managed to pass the two Ducati and was - for the first time in his GP career - in a podium position. Lorenzo's day would only turn worse as he fell at Turn 1 after five 5 laps and was out of the race.
Marquez and Rossi entered the pits at the same time, and they swapped bikes quickly, but the Spaniard was lucky to rejoin the race in front of Tito Rabat, who had not changed bikes. With Rabat as a buffer between him and Rossi, Marquez was able to sprint ahead and was never caught again.
Rossi had visible troubles with the bike number 2 and struggled with it until the last couple of laps. His lack of feel allowed Dovizioso and Iannone to blitz past him, and for a moment, it looked like a podium was out of the question.
Still, at the last turn, Iannone lost the front while attempting to pass Dovizioso on the inside and crashed, taking his teammate down with him. Making things even crazier, Dovizioso pushed his bike across the finish line, completing the race in the 13th position.
The two Ducati crashing gave Pedrosa an unexpected podium and also granted Eugene Lavery a place in parc ferme as the best open class rider. Unfortunately, Vinales shared the fate of so many others, crashing out while in the third position. The eight names on the DNF list also include Redding, Baz, and Miller.
MotoGP heads over to Austin, Texas this week for the Circuit of the Americas race that sees Marquez leading the scoreboard with 41 points, followed by Rossi with 33, Pedrosa with 27, Lorenzo with 25, and Dovizioso with 23.
Google News