Marc Marquez has scored his maiden MotoGP victory of the 2016 season at the Gran Premio Motul de la República in Argentina. Despite having to tussle with Valentino Rossi, the 23-year-old Spaniard successfully managed to maintain his lead at the dramatic race in Termas de Río Hondo Circuit.
The race started off amid safety concerns about the Michelin rear tyres, with the looming dark clouds and the threat of wet weather further complicating the situation. These lead to several changes in format of the race and the shortening of the length of the race to 20 laps, with the inclusion of a mandatory bike swap at the end of lap nine, 10 or 11.
Jorge Lorenzo got off to a good start grabbing the lead in the first lap. However, the reigning world champion couldn’t keep up his pace and slowly fell down the order, eventually crashing out of the race while running in sixth place. Meanwhile at the front, the battle was on between Rossi and Marquez as they fought for the lead. Post the bike swap though, when Rossi and Marquez entered the pit lane one behind the other, Marquez managed to grab the lead, maintaining the position till the end of the race.
Ducati rider Andrea Iannone crashed after colliding with team mate Andrea Dovizioso while attempting an overtake in the penultimate corner of the last lap, denying Ducati of a twin podium finish. Dovizioso not being the one to give up easily, walked over the line with the hefty Ducati bike, finishing 13th. Iannone has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race at Austin for the risky overtake attempt.
Post the Argentina MotoGp, Marquez is now on top of the points table with an eight point lead over Rossi. The next race will be held on April 10 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, US.
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