The drama continued into race day for the MotoGP class at the Termos de Rio Honda where they met for the second round of the 2017 MotoGP season, the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina. A wet Qualifying turned everything upside down as it practically threw the results from Free Practice out of the window. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) had secured pole position with his flying lap.

Abraham gets shock front row start

He was to be joined on the front row by Pull & Bear Aspar rider Karel Abraham who has returned to the MotoGP after his family bought him a seat in the championship. The Czech Republican rider followed Marquez on track when he set his pole position lap time, and he benefited greatly finishing 0.7 seconds slower in second. LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow joined them on the front row in third.

Vinales quickest in the morning warm-up session

Come race day it was back to dry conditions. The riders completed a warm-up session prior to the race which saw new Movistar Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales go quickest at the South American track. Marquez was second quickest and LCR Honda rider, Crutchlow followed on in third.

Dramatic start to the second round of the 2017 MotoGP season

The riders lined up on the grid to begin the race, the drama continued to unfold as things got underway. Marquez got a great start and led into turn one with Crutchlow and Abraham tucking in behind him. It was almost as if they had all made it through the first turn cleanly, until Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) touched the back of Andrea Iannone’s Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR (Lorenzo’s fault) and came out worse.

Lorenzo went down and slid out of action. Real Avintia Racing team rider, Loris Baz, did well to avoid becoming a part of Lorenzo’s crash as he had to deal with a fallen Ducati and rider in his path that forced him onto the painted run-off area. Lorenzo appeared angry but unhurt, and was unable to continue with his race.

How things stood after the first lap…

There were no further incidents during the first lap as the remainder of the riders completed it intact. Marquez led ahead of Crutchlow in second, Vinales was third and his Movistar Yamaha teammate, Valentino Rossi, who was completing his 350th GP start, was in fourth. Behind them, Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) was the lead Ducati in fifth ahead of rookie Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) who had made their way past Abraham. Alvaro Bautista (Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra) was in ninth ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) in 10th.

Zarco looking promising once again

Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was on the move however and after bypassing Aleix Espargaro, he then went on to overtake Bautista to take ninth. Folger then dropped down to 10th when Zarco and Bautista passed him to take eighth and ninth respectively.

Marquez crashes out of the lead of the Argentinian GP

On the third lap, Vinales was able to overtake Crutchlow to take second behind Marquez who appeared to be pulling away. Marquez’s lead, and race for that matter, became short-lived as on the second turn of the fourth lap he crashed out of the Argentinian GP. The Spaniard lost control quite early heading into the turn when he touched the brake and he crashed out; it was race over.

Iannone receives ride through penalty for jump start

Iannone’s day went from bad to worse as after being hit by Lorenzo, news then came through that he was to be penalised (ride-through penalty) for a jump start. Zarco and Dovizioso battled it out for sixth position on lap five as Iannone made his pit run, and within a lap, the Italian was back to the race in last position. Iannone had made it up to 10th before he had to complete his penalty.

By lap seven, Pedrosa was on Petrucci’s tail as they battled for fourth. At the front Vinales was pulling away ever so slightly, and Zarco was able to catch the two as they duelled on track. Further down the pack, Baz was able to overtake Rabat to take 15th.

Injured Rins crashes out and Lowes retires

Alex Rins’ (Team Suzuki Ecstar) misfortune continued in Argentina. After breaking his ankle at a training incident following on from the opening round in Qatar, he slid out of the race on lap eight. He came off at turn 13 suffering a low slide. He was able to pick up the bike with assistance from the Marshalls and hobbled to get back on. He did not pick up any further injuries and instead re-joined the race. He later had no choice but to retire. Sam Lowes (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) also had to retire at the same time.

Petrucci under increased pressure in fourth

Back in fourth, it seemed that Petrucci was holding up Pedrosa who looked like he was set to attack at any time. Right behind them, as Zarco watched on, he was unaware that Bautista had made his way past Dovizioso to take seventh and had began in his pursuit of the rookie. On the ninth lap, Bautista was able to overtake Zarco, but he immediately bit back. There were now four in a battle for fourth.

Knowing his position was at risk Zarco was close to making an attempt on Pedrosa on turn seven but refrained. On the 11th lap, however, he was able to pass both Pedrosa and Petrucci to take fourth. Pedrosa was then able to finally get past Petrucci. On lap 12, Pedrosa made his move on Zarco to claim the fourth position he initially yearned after. Zarco tried to respond in the same way, but Pedrosa blocked him; behind Bautista passed Petrucci.

However, on the next lap, with 13 laps remaining, Petrucci was able to overtake Bautista heading into turn one of the circuit; of course, the Spaniard immediately retaliated. This allowed Dovizioso to catch up and he began chasing Petrucci as Bautista turned his focus to Zarco.

Pedrosa crashes out!

All of Pedrosa’s hard work was quickly undone as he crashed out at turn two of lap 14 out of fourth position. His bike tucked under him and they slid out; his bike glided over the gravel before destroying itself. It was race over for the Spaniard.

History repeats itself for Dovizioso

On the following lap, more disaster struck as two more riders fell at turn five. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who was quietly making progress on his new machinery, had caught up to Dovizioso. He braked late and took an inside line into the turn at the end of the straight but lost control and crashed out.

As his bike slid, he scooped up Dovizoso who unexpectedly was brought down; it was like history repeating itself from the round in 2016 when Dovizioso’s former teammate Iannone crashed out and took him with him on the penultimate corner of the race causing the Italian to have to run across the line with his bike to collect one point instead of 20.

Dovizioso was clearly shocked as Aleix immediately ran over to apologise to the Italian and to check his well-being. For both of the riders, it was race over as neither were able to recover from the incident. Fortunately, both also appeared unhurt although Doviozoso did appear to be in a great deal of shock.

Rossi catches Crutchlow near the front

Meanwhile, back at the front on lap 16, Rossi had caught up to Crutchlow whereas ahead of the Brit, Vinales had built up over a two-second lead. Both the Movistar Yamaha riders had selected the medium compound Michelin Power Slicks whereas Crutchlow had opted for the hard front and medium rear; Crutchlow appeared to be sliding more.

With seven laps to go as they approached turn one Rossi looked to make a move on Crutchlow but the Honda rider ‘shut the door on him’. He tried again a few corners later and at turn five stole second place from him. A feisty Crutchlow immediately bit back; Vinales’ time had now extended to almost three seconds.

As the race drew to an end, there were no further changes at the front but further down the field, Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) began to lose positions; first to Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing) and then to Pol Espargaro on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing bike. Closer to the front, Folger was able to catch Petrucci and pass him.

Vinales collects second victory in second race with Movistar Yamaha in Argentina

Vinales collected his second consecutive race victory for and with Movistar Yamaha since he moved at the end of the 2016 MotoGP season. He collected another 25 points that helped him to extend his lead in the championship to 50 points; he also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 12 with a time of 1:39.694. His new teammate Rossi was second; the nine times world champion collected his 223rd trophy on his 350th GP race start. They were joined on the podium by Crutchlow in third as the highest placed independent team rider; he well and truly made up for his DNF in Qatar.

Zarco the top rookie

Bautista was fourth as the highest placed Ducati rider on 2016 machinery. Next followed the two Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie riders, the highest placed rookie, Zarco in sixth and his teammate, Folger, in seventh. Petrucci had to settle for seventh despite battling throughout, he finished ahead of his Octo Pramac Racing teammate Scott Redding in eighth.

Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) was ninth and despite his great efforts that gained him a front row start, Abraham completed the top 10 collecting six points. Baz recovered to 11th after he had to work to avoid a fallen Lorenzo at the start, Rabat was 12th and Barbera was 13th. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith once again finished in 14th and 15th respectively, collecting the remaining points available. Iannone was unable to recover from his penalty and completed the list of finishers in 16th.

Vinales extends his championship lead

Regarding the championship, Vinales is top with 50 points. After collecting two podiums, Rossi is second with 36 points, and despite his crash which resulted in a DNF for round two, Dovizioso is third with 20 points. Redding is the highest independent team rider in fourth ahead of Crutchlow in fifth. Folger is the highest placed rookie on 16 points (joint with Crutchlow). Miller, Marquez, Bautista and Pedrosa complete the top 10.