Cal Crutchlow wins a crazy race, followed on the podium by Johann Zarco and Alex Rins. The crash between Marquez and Rossi will be called into question.
The MotoGP race at Termas de Rio Hondo has been totally unpredictable due to delays, unstable track conditions and penalties. Cal Crutchlow (the new World Championship leader, the first British rider since Sheene in 1979) eventually won ahead of Johann Zarco and Alex Rins, gaining his first podium in the MotoGP Championship. A race to forget for Marc Marquez: he received two penalties for his wrong maneuver at the starting grid and for his controversial overtakings (one of which over Rossi, who ended up falling off). The penalties got him the 18th position.
The race was announced to be on wet track so all riders used rain-tires, but the situation remained ever-changing. Just ten minutes before the start all bikes were quickly removed from the starting grid and taken back to the pits, causing a delayed start. The poleman Miller didn’t share this problem with the rest of the riders because he already had slick tires on his D16, but he still had to wait on the grid. The Race Direction decided that all riders had to be placed on the starting grid a few rows behind Miller, following the qualifying ranking’s order. Thanks to a fast-starting procedure the race could finally begin (after Marquez’s unorthodox maneuver due to a technical issue).
Millers kicked off, but the Honda immediately nullified his advantage. Marquez was then leading the race while Zarco did a harsh overtaking on Pedrosa, who ended here his race with an highside that took him off course. In the meantime, the world champion was under investigation for his irregular maneuver on the starting grid for which he got a penalty and needed to do a ride through that left him at the back of the group. Miller at this point was leading again ahead of Rins, Zarco and Crutchlow, who all firmly hold on the leading positions: the battle for the final victory was among them. Marquez started acting as an uncontrollable comeback player and did two nasty overtaking: one on Aleix Espargaro, who managed to keep his Aprilia on track and another on Rossi who wasn’t so lucky and fell off.
An intense battle allowed Cal Crutchlow to gain a sensational victory over Johann Zarco and Alex Rins, who is at his first podium in the queen-like category. Jack Miller’s mistake made him finish 4th followed by Maverick Vinales, Andrea Dovizioso and Tito Rabat. Andrea Iannone finished 8th ahead of rookie Hafizh Syahrin and Danilo Petrucci. A final 30-seconds penalty for Marquez relegated him to position 18 (from 5th), completely out of the points.
The final ranking
Author: Diana Tamantini