Crutchlow Wins As Marquez Loses It
The Grand Prix of Argentina is no stranger to controversy. During a whirlwind of a Sunday afternoon, 23 riders left the grid just before the race start to change tyres forcing a delay, four men — three of them from satellite teams — fought for the win, an
MotoGP
Where to start on this pulsating encounter that left you breathless from the opening minute to the last? The lights had yet to go out before race direction was presented with its first major headache. A shower in the hourlong window separating Moto2 and MotoGP races convinced 23 of the field’s 24 riders to exit pit-lane on wets. Knowing how to use his right hand and right foot (to operate the rear brake) to get slicks to work in conditions close to those he experienced a day before, Miller was the only one to gamble, choosing a dry setup from the start.
Few could have foreseen what followed. Sensing Miller’s call to be the right one as the race start neared, the rest of the field — all 23 of them — had their bikes wheeled away. Race direction was facing an exceptional situation. By the letter of the law, riders beginning the warm-up lap from pit-lane could rejoin at the back of the grid. But what happens when the back of the grid is behind the pole man on the front row? The start was delayed by 20 minutes while race direction re-drew the grid. To ensure Miller was rewarded for his tyre choice, riders formed in qualifying positions five rows back.
It left the unique sight of Miller at the front and alone, contemplating his lead among an eerie silence. He was typically forthright on how he maintained concentration from a position of unexpected strength. ‘I was just swearing a lot,’ he quipped soon after.
But the drama didn’t end there. As the grid formed around him, Marquez’s Honda stalled. Running forward to bump-start it, the 25-year-old was directed towards the pit-lane by IRTA official Tony Congram. Amid the rising noise of revving engines and heightened tensions, official messages were mixed — seeing Race Director Danny Aldridge’s thumbs raised, Marquez decided to return to his position, riding the wrong way along the grid to do it. Unsurprisingly, he incurred a ridethrough penalty for his actions.
Miller shot to an early lead, with Marquez — surely aware of the incoming slap on the wrist — tearing through the field to sit second. Pedrosa’s career could be encapsulated by the first lap; holding third, Zarco sniffed an opening at Turn 13. Barging into a space that was never really there, the Spaniard was forced to lift, an action that sent him on to the wet track. A touch of the throttle and Pedrosa was flying through the air, fracturing his right wrist as he came down.
Marquez was soon into the lead and riding off into the distance. Word of his ride-through penalty arrived on lap six. He would enter the pits two minutes later, rejoining the action in a distant 19th. From there, one had to balance attention between the reigning champion’s ruthless ride through the field and the increasingly intriguing fourway fight for the lead.
Cal Crutchlow and Rins had joined Miller and Zarco at the front by then and there were no holds barred in the scrap that followed. With Marquez penalised and Pedrosa crocked, the quartet were all alone with Miller comfortably outperforming official factory men Dovizioso (sixth) and Jorge Lorenzo (15th). Zarco did the same, with Viñales and Rossi unable to make their ’18-spec M1s work in the early laps.
As Miller clung to a narrow advantage, Marquez was tearing through the field. Catching some of the riders ahead to the tune of three seconds per lap, he barged Aleix Espargaro [Gresini Aprilia] off the track at Turn 13 the ninth time around. Soon race direction instructed him to drop a place, but by then he was already negotiating a way around class rookies Takaaki Nakagami [LCR Honda] and Franco Morbidelli [Marc VDS Honda]. He dropped behind both on lap 11. Not taking that warning onboard, he made further contact passing Bradley Smith [Red Bull KTM] and Rabat.
It was spectacular, breathless stuff, an exhibition of on-the-edge riding and a demonstration of superiority over those around him that few riders in history could muster. Yet it was one that appeared to overrun the part of Marquez’s brain that has so effectively weighed up risk in recent years. This was more the oft-sanctioned rider we regularly saw in 2011 and 2012, his brilliant yet chaotic years in Moto2. By the race’s final third, he was on to title challengers Dovizioso and Rossi, and a move on the latter sent track-side crowds into meltdown.
Entering Turn 13, the same scene of the collision with Espargaro the elder, Marquez dived under Rossi, pushing the Italian wide and on to the wet grass. Soon he was attempting to pick his Yamaha M1 up while flailing a frustrated arm in Marquez’s direction. He rejoined but only to finish 19th. He didn’t hold back in his post-race assessment of Marquez’s antics, either. ‘I’m okay,’
said the nine-time world champion, ‘but this is a very bad situation because he destroyed our sport. He doesn’t have any respect for his rivals, never. If you take, for example, what’s happened this weekend, one by one these things can happen to everybody. You can make a mistake in braking. You can touch the other guy. Happens. This is racing. But from Friday morning he make like this with Viñales, Dovizioso. He made like this with me on Saturday morning. And today in the race he goes straight into four riders. He does it purposely; it’s not a mistake — because he points the leg, between the leg and the bike, because he knows that he don’t crash, but you crash. He hopes that you crash.’
Lin Jarvis, Yamaha’s managing director, joined the chorus of anger, stating. ‘His behaviour shows a total lack of respect for any other competitor on the racetrack. I sincerely hope race direction will review well this weekend and decide whether it’s appropriate to take [further] action or not.’
Incredibly, Marquez would still have time to nick fifth from Viñales at the final right on the last lap but a deserved 30-second penalty soon came his way, sending him down the order to 18th and out of the points. He pleaded innocence when facing the media later that evening. ‘I think I didn’t make anything crazy,’ he said. ‘You need to understand how the track conditions were. Of course, in that line [at Turn 13] was dry, but I take a wet patch, lock the front, release the brakes. Okay, I had the contact. I tried to turn and then when I see him crash I just tried to say sorry. But if you check Zarco with Dani, today was quite difficult.’
His attempts to apologize to Rossi when approaching the Movistar Yamaha garage were quickly extinguished with the Italian’s best friend Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci telling him in no uncertain terms where to go.
To focus on this commotion, however, would be to do the leading quartet a great disservice. Miller’s time at the front lasted until lap 18, when Crutchlow moved by at Turn Five. A mistake from the Englishman soon allowed Zarco through and while Miller faded in fourth and Rins could only just hang on, the fight for the win came down between Crutchlow and Zarco. Ultimately, the LCR Honda rider would hold off advances for a third MotoGP win by 0.25 seconds.
‘The first 10 laps of the race, I just sat in a very comfortable position, out of the slipstream, not taking the same lines as them on the water,’ said Crutchlow. ‘I was concerned that if one of them crashed on the water, then they would take me with them. So I think that we managed the situation very well. I won the race at the slowest possible speed.’
Runner-up Zarco was content to collect a fourth premier class podium. ‘I was pushing all the time, all the time, all the time. I really didn’t leave the race in the same way than Cal,’ he said. ‘So then when he overtook me also at the end, he had the better pace. I was pushing also to have this better pace. I understood a few things, but not enough at the end. I was a bit tired.’
Although unable to challenge the leading pair at the very end, Rins was delighted with his first MotoGP podium. ‘From the beginning I stayed calm. I was behind Jack mostly all race. When he was first, I was second and I was thinking if I overtake him, maybe I can open a small gap because I was going really easy behind him. I was trying to overtake three or four times, but the track conditions was very bad, a lot of patches out of the line. When I was first in the middle of the race I made a small mistake and I think, stay calm, go with them fight for podium, for the victory. But I’m very happy.’
Miller spoke of “bittersweet” feelings as he coasted to fourth, with Viñales rescuing some decent points with fifth. Lady luck shone on Dovizioso to collect sixth, a place ahead of Rabat, who earned his best MotoGP result yet. Andrea Iannone [Ecstar Suzuki] was a disappointing eighth, ahead of impressive rookie Hafizh Syahrin [Monster Tech 3 Yamaha] and Danilo Petrucci [Pramac Ducati].
Moto2
So 2017’s renaissance was no fluke; Italian veteran Mattia Pasini [Italtrans Kalex] rolled back the years to win a dogged three-rider fight for first in the Moto2 affair. The 32-year-old always appeared the most ready to engage in open combat while Miguel Oliveira [Ajo Red Bull KTM] lurked and pole-sitter Xavi Vierge [Dynavolt Kalex] closed in from afar.
Twice Pasini was thwarted when braking for Turn Five, and twice he reacted immediately. First, Oliveira moved on lap 13 only to get pushed off line later that lap. The same incident occurred five laps later, giving Vierge added impetus. Pasini would ultimately hold on by 0.8 seconds to take the championship lead for the first time since 2008. Vierge was second, with Oliveira third.
‘This is my idea for the rest of the season — take the best result possible home every weekend, because this was a weak point of mine in the past,’ said an ecstatic Pasini.
Moto3
All through pre-season, 18-year-old Italian Marco Bezzecchi [PruestelGP KTM] showed signs that he was a star in the making. With riders attacking the race on a wet track, the KTM rider eased clear of his pursuers to establish a six-second advantage, a lead he would hold until the final lap.
Behind, Aron Canet [Estrella Galicia Honda] battled with Fabio Di Giannantonio [Gresini Honda] and Jaume Masia [Bester Capital Dubai KTM]. Masia’s overly optimistic move on Di Giannantonio at Turn Five on the penultimate lap sent him crashing to the floor, and the Italian wide, leaving Canet to hold on to second. He now heads the championship standings.
‘I went to the start “all-in”, because I wanted to win. Of course, I was nervous, but everything fell into place,’ said Bezzecchi. ‘I don’t know what to say.’