MotoGP 2016: Argentina Grand Prix

Argentina delivered a bizarre race befitting an equally bemusing lead up, Marc Marquez taking his first MotoGP win of 2016 simply by staying out of trouble. The Honda rider seized the lead early and held off a feisty Valentino Rossi ahead of compulsory pit stops at the halfway point of the shortened 20 lap race, both measures due to tyre issues suffered by Michelin during practice.

Marquez was peerless after the stops, Rossi unable to match his early pace and allowing his chief rival to race to a comfortable 7.6 second victory. There should have been a pair of Ducatis between them but, in a total disaster for the Italian team, Andrea Lannone took out teammate Andrea Dovizioso at the final corner as he tried to nab second place. The pair went tumbling into the gravel, allowing Rossi through to second and a surprised Dani Pedrosa into third.

Jorge Lorenzo, the Yamaha Man got the holeshot off the start but immediately began to slip down the order as he struggled with Michelin emergency spec rear tyre. His day ended early with a crash on the sixth lap. A promising race for Jack Miller also ended with his machine tumbling through the gravel. The Australian made a lighting start to pass the fading Lorenzo for sixth on the third lap, only to endure his fourth crash of the weekend on the next tour.

The upshot of it all is that Marquez now leads the championship on a machine that locked in all sorts of trouble in pre-season testing, with Rossi eight points in arrears, Pedrosa 14 points back and Jorge Lorenzo 16 behind. The next race is the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin in one week’s time.

MotoGP 2016: Qatar Grand Prix

All the changes in MotoGP off season, tyres, electronics, couldn’t stop the man who won the last race of 2015 from claiming victory in the opening race of 2016. Yamaha reigning world champion fought past a pair of fast starting Ducatis to comfortably head home Andrea Dovizioso, who won a last lap tussle with Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi to finish second.

Honda Dani Pedrosa came home fifth from Suzuki Maverick Vinales with Australia Jack Miller coming home inside the world championship points in 14^th. Lorenzo kissed his rear tyre after he rolled into parc ferme at the end of the race, admitting his choice of Michelin soft rear tyre had been a gamble. Lorenzo surged into the lead from pole position as his fellow front raw starters Marquez and Vinales were swallowed up by a pair of fast starting Ducatis.

The two red machines used their formidable horsepower to blast into the lead at the end of the first lap, lannone and Dovizioso surging past Lorenzo as they charged down the front straight. The leading group of five pulled away from Pedrosa and Vinales, holding their order until Dovizioso began to challenge lannone for the lead. The two red bikes swapped places several times until lannone suddenly crashed out on Lap 5.

Australian Jack Miller made his traditional roaring gateway from 18^th on the grid to be 14^th by the end of opening lap. While Lorenzo leaves Qatar with 25 points and a clear psychological edge over his rivals, he was not the biggest winner at Losail. That honor goes to MotoGP new tyre manufacturer Michelin, whose tyres were strong enough to allow the Spaniard to set the fastest lap of the race on the third to last tour. The next round of the MotoGP world Championship is at the Termas do Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina on April 3.