MotoGP 2019: Dominant Marquez cruises to victory in Argentina

The reigning world champion cruised to victory in an utterly dominant fashion, as he won the race by over 9 seconds! Valentino Rossi took his first podium in Argentina since the 2018 German Grand Prix, as he fended off Andrea Dovizioso to take the second spot. 

In what can be described as total domination from start to finish, Marc Marquez outclassed his rivals in the Argentina Grand Prix, as the Repsol Honda rider won the race by a gap of more than 9 seconds over Monster Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso. This was Marquez’s first victory of the season and his biggest winning margin in dry conditions.

Marquez’s win in Argentina wasn’t a big surprise though. From free practice 1, Marquez’s race pace was the strongest, and he was half a second ahead of his main rivals. Then in the qualifying, Marquez yet again stamped his authority on the track by grabbing pole position, ahead of Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and Dovizioso. Come race day, Marquez didn’t put a foot wrong, and as soon as the lights went out, he disappeared into the distance, leaving the rest of the pack to fight for the second spot. In the closing laps, Marquez was over 12 seconds clear of Rossi, which shows that Honda and Marquez may go on to become an invincible package as the season progresses. And beating this pair will take something special from arch-rivals, especially Dovizioso and Ducati.

Behind Marquez, the battle for second place was quite interesting with as many as eight riders fighting for the spot initially. However, in the end, it was a two-horse race between Rossi and Dovizioso. The two Italians gave their all, but it was Rossi who made a spectacular block pass on Dovizioso in the final lap to take the second position. Dovizioso had no answer for that, and he had to settle for the third spot. Dovizioso’s third-place finish also meant that he’s lost his championship lead to Marquez after two rounds.

Finishing fourth in Argentina was Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller, who fended off Suzuki’s Alex Rins. That said it was a spectacular show by the Suzuki man, as he started from P16 and yet finished in top 5! Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci was lucky to finish sixth in the race as Yamaha riders – Vinales (Monster Yamaha) and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) – crashed as they tangled with each other in the closing laps. Rookie Fabio Quartararo of Petronas Yamaha took the seventh spot, ahead of LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro finished ninth, ahead of his brother and KTM Racing’s Pol Espargaro in tenth.

A big controversy in the race was Cal Crutchlow’s jump start penalty. The LCR Honda rider was given a ride-through for a jump start, which was quite tricky to see on television screens, and was deemed a bit unfair by many. If it weren’t for that, Crutchlow – who won in Argentina last year – had the race pace to be on the podium again this year.

Also read,