Honda’s Marc Marquez leaves Termas de Rio Hondo pointless, after the Spaniard crashed out whilst commandingly leading the Argentine Grand Prix.
Marquez’s dominant pole position on Saturday ahead of Karel Abraham set the Honda rider up nicely for a third Argentina victory, especially with both Yamahas and the factory Ducatis starting out of position.
At the start, Marquez grabbed the advantage and shot off into the distance, building up a one second lead by the end of the opening lap. As the chasing pack jostled for position, the five-time world champion eased two seconds up the road.
Looking untouchable after just three laps, Marquez’s race went horribly awry at Turn 2 on the fourth tour when he pushed too hard and tucked the front.
“I was feeling really good on the bike,” he said.
“I was able to ride strong, as we made a great improvement to the set-up in the warm-up, which made me feel pretty comfortable on my bike.
“The crash was unexpected; I must have made a small mistake, and it cost me a lot.”
Marquez’s season didn’t get off to the best of starts, the Honda rider only just clinging onto fourth in Qatar. To compound his misery, Maverick Vinales stormed to another victory to go 37 points clear.
Fortunately, Marquez walked away from the crash unscathed and has already turned his attention to the next round in Texas, where he remains unbeaten.
“Luckily I’m okay, but these kinds of mistakes disappoint me, as everything was going well,” he added.
“Anyway, we must put this behind us and think of the next race in Austin.”
Sunday proved to be hellish for younger brother Alex too, who highsided out of the race at Turn 7 on the final lap whilst fighting Marc VDS team-mate Franco Morbidelli for the victory in the Moto2 class.
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