Malaysia MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez wins

Marc Marquez took a comfortable ninth victory of the 2018 MotoGP season in the Malaysian Grand Prix after long-time leader Valentino Rossi crashed. From second on the grid, Rossi outdragged poleman Johann Zarco to take the lead into the first corner and from there proceeded to build a lead of more than a second.

Marquez meanwhile quickly set about making up for his six-place grid penalty for impeding Andrea Iannone in qualifying and by the end of the fifth lap of 20 he had taken up station behind Rossi. Initially Rossi was able to extend the gap over his former arch-rival, but as the race moved into its second half Marquez began to chip away at the Yamaha rider's advantage.

Closing in at around a tenth per lap, Marquez had managed to get within 0.6 seconds of Rossi when the Italian rider suffered a low-speed crash at Turn 1 with three laps to go, denying the crowd a repeat of the pair's infamous 2015 Sepang duel. Marquez inherited a lead of four seconds over Zarco as a result of Rossi's incident, and from there he was able to cruise to a straightforward 1.8s win and clinch the constructors' title for Honda.

Zarco was passed for second by the Suzuki of Alex Rins on the final lap at Turn 4, allowing Rins to equal his career-best result, while Zarco held on for third to claim his first podium finish since May. Maverick Vinales could well have contended for victory but for his poor grid slot of 11th, which left him losing time stuck behind the Nieto Ducati of Alvaro Bautista in the early laps.

Pedrosa fifth place equals his best result of a difficult 2018 season, while Andrea Dovizioso endured a low-key run to sixth on the best of the Ducati’s. Hafizh Syahrin stormed from 23rd and last on the grid to 12th on the opening lap, and managed to secure the final top 10 position on a day he became the first Malaysian to start a premier class grand prix. Aleix Espargaro was 11th ahead of Franco Morbidelli, LCR Honda stand-in Stefan Bradl, Takaaki Nakagami and Bradley Smith.

French MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez extends his lead

Marc Marquez reeled off his third win on the bounce in the French MotoGP as home favorite and pole sitter Johann Zarco crashed out. Marquez took his 38th win in the top category unchallenged from Danilo Petrucci with Italian veteran Valentino Rossi in third.

Zarco had the home fans at Le Mans’ Bugatti circuit dreaming of a rare French win after his record setting pole but the Yamaha Tech star slid out of contention on lap seven. Australian Jack Miller was impressive to finish fourth, after starting the race from seventh on the grid.

In the middle order, Jack Miller on the second Pramac Ducati passed Lorenzo to take fourth. The Ducati rider though wasn't going down without a fight and tried hard to hold on to fifth, despite increasing pressure from Dani Pedrosa of Honda. The Honda rider managed to nudge past Lorenzo into fifth with six laps to go. Lorenzo eventually finished sixth, ahead of Maverick Vinales on the Yamaha. The Yamaha rider made a strong come back in the second half of the race after dropping to 11th midway.

Zarco had the home fans at Le Mans’ Bugatti circuit dreaming of a rare French win after his record setting pole but the Yamaha Tech star slid out of contention on lap seven. The win allowed Marquez (95 points) to extend his lead in the championship to 36 points over Maverick Vinales, who sits in second place on 59.

Spain MotoGP 2018: Marquez wins and take lead

Marc Marquez won his home Spanish Grand Prix and took the overall MotoGP lead after the reigning champion’s main rivals collided spectacularly. The Honda rider was in a race of his own for the last eight laps after the Ducati pairing of Andrea Dovizioso, the previous championship leader and Jorge Lorenzo collided with Honda Dani Pedrosa while fighting for second place.

Pedrosa, who had wrist surgery less than a month ago, was thrown high over his bike after trying to go past the two Ducati’s on the inside. Lorenzo came across into the corner as Dovizioso went wide, colliding with Pedrosa and sending the two Ducati’s into the gravel. All three riders walked away from the crash. French Tech3 Yamaha rider Johann Zarco was gifted the runner-up slot, 5.241 seconds behind, and is now Marquez's closest rival in the championship.

Four times world champion Marquez, who started the race from fifth place, now has 70 points after four races to Zarco's 58. Dovizioso dropped to fifth overall with 46. Italian Andrea Iannone finished third for Suzuki. Compatriot Valentino Rossi was fifth at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain in a race that saw him reach a career milestone by completing the circumference of the planet in race kilometers.

Rossi has now covered 40,075km in competition over 23 seasons, starting at the 1996 Malaysian Grand Prix. Britain's Cal Crutchlow started on pole position for the LCR Honda team but failed to finish, crashing out at turn one after nine laps and while in fourth place.

Argentina MotoGP 2018: Cal Crutchlow wins lead

Cal Crutchlow claimed victory in the Grand Prix of Argentina, a race that will go down in MotoGP history as one of the most bizarre and dramatic of all time. This makes him the first British rider to get to the head of the MotoGP championship standings since Barry Sheene in 1979. Finishing in second place behind the LCR Honda rider was Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Johann Zarco, while Alex Rins took third place for Ecstar Suzuki.

The start of the race was delayed because of safety conditions. Jack Miller lined up on the grid on slick tyres, while the rest of the grid was on wet weather tyres. The rest of the grid then decided to go into the pits and change tyres, because the circuit was drying up. This meant that Miller was at the head of the grid, having qualified on pole, while the rest of the riders started nine rows behind him, but in qualifying order.

There was further drama even before the race started, as Marc Marquez stalled his motorcycle on the grid, and then rode the wrong way down the track to resume his starting position on the grid. It would earn him a ride-through penalty, and would trigger a series of strange; some would say dangerous moves from the Spanish rider who seemed to be in a hurry to catch up. It would begin with a clash with Aleix Espargaro that would result in a one-place penalty for Marquez.

Crutchlow now heads the MotoGP standings with 38 points, while Andrea Dovizioso is second with 35 points, and Johann Zarco, with 28 points is third. LCR Honda moves to the head of the constructor's standings with 41 points, while Monster Yamaha Tech 3 is second with 37 points and Movistar Yamaha ties with them with 37 points too.