As the MotoGP riders assembled on the grid for the Gran Premio Red Bull de la República Argentina, conditions were similar to the qualifying session, with bright sunshine and a track temperature of 37 degrees. There was some last minute drama before the riders set off on their sighting lap as Repsol Honda’s Marquez, along with CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, decided to switch to the hard compound rear tyre. This was in contrast to the Movistar Yamaha’s of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo who went with the extra hard option, a decision that would prove to be crucial later on in the race as tyre-life would have a huge part to play at the Termas de Rio Hondo.

It was Aleix Espargaro who led the pack into turn one on the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR, but it didn’t take long for Marc Marquez to make his move for the lead, passing his compatriot almost immediately and taking advantage of the clear track in front of him to lead by 0.8s at the end of the first lap.

Marquez used the extra grip afforded to him by his hard tyre early on in the race to extend his lead to over 4 seconds at the front, all the while though Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was gradually making his way through the field from 8th on the grid. “The Doctor” moved into second at the expense of Dovizioso on the Ducati Team GP15 with 15 laps to go. He then set about hunting down Marquez as the Spaniard’s tyre performance started to fall away, and it suddenly became apparent he would be able to catch the Honda before the end of the race, which sent the fans into a frenzy.

It was like watching a hunter stalk his prey as Rossi made huge in-roads into Marquez’s lead, finally catching him with just 2 laps to go. Marquez was not going to let the Italian pass him without a fight though, and in the ensuing battle the riders touched a couple of times, before Marquez clipped the back of Rossi’s bike and crashed out of the race. Marquez showed his frustration at the side of the track but Race Direction ruled it as a “racing incident” and took no further action.

This left Rossi on his own to take the victory by over five seconds, and he admitted afterwards that the key to his success was not caring about Marquez’s tyre choice, and just focusing on his own: “I am sorry for the incident with Marc and I hope he is ok, but it was a great race and I am very happy to have won. I had good pace and although Marc was far ahead during the race, I saw he selected the hard rear tyre and so I had to concentrate and keep riding at one hundred percent to catch him.”

Andrea Dovizioso took advantage of Marquez’s crash to claim 2nd, five seconds behind Rossi, and now trails him by six points in the Championship standings.

CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow left it until the very last corner to pass Andrea Iannone to claim the final podium place, managing to hold off the Ducati Team GP15 on the run to the line to take 3rd and finish as the leading satellite rider.

Source: MotoGP