Argentina MotoGP: Crutchlow wins crazy race, Marquez hits Rossi

LCR Honda rider Crutchlow prevailed in a breathless four-bike battle for victory, which was set up when a rampant Marquez was forced to serve a ride-through penalty from the lead after having stalled on the grid.

Marquez was charging through the pack when he came up on Rossi, and divebombed the Italian down the inside of Turn 13 - barging the Yamaha man out of the way and leaving Rossi to fall over on the wet grass.

Warm-up and the support races had taken place on a gradually drying track, but it was soaked again ahead of the main event, with all riders - except for poleman Jack Miller – lining up on the grid on wets.

But the track surface was drying quickly, and as the scheduled race start edged ever closer, riders began to pull into the pitlane en masse to switch to dry tyres.

As more and more riders abandoned their grid slots and began to queue up at the pitlane exit, Miller's Ducati GP17 was soon left as the only bike on the grid – only for the organisers to delay the start, citing safety concerns.

Following an impromptu team boss meeting, all riders but Miller were moved several rows back, leaving the Aussie all by himself at the sharp end of the grid.

The start was then briefly held up further as Marquez stalled and bump-started his Honda on the fully-formed grid before retaking his slot.

The buffer out front allowed Miller to keep the lead on the opening lap, but he was then quickly reeled and passed by a charging Marquez – who was two seconds clear when he was assessed a ride-through, which dropped him to 19th.

With Marquez out of the way, a top four of Miller, Alex Rins, Johann Zarco and Crutchlow broke away out front, escaping into the distance from the chasing pack led by Qatar winner Andrea Dovizioso.

The quartet ran in formation until Rins began to attack Miller, the pair trading the lead on several occasions before Rins made a move stick with nine laps to go – only to run wide a lap later and drop to fourth.

With six laps to go, Miller had a major moment at Turn 13, giving up the lead to Crutchlow and dropping back from the lead battle.

Zarco soon overtook Crutchlow, but the Brit returned the favour with a slipstream pass on the penultimate lap – and held on to claim his third MotoGP win.

Rins celebrated his maiden MotoGP podium in third behind Zarco, who equalled his best-ever finish, while Miller was forced to settle for fourth.

Marquez passed Maverick Vinales on the final lap to take fifth, but was assessed a 30-second penalty for his clash with Rossi, which dropped him down to 18th.

Dovizioso, Avintia Ducati's Tito Rabat, Suzuki's Andrea Iannone, Tech 3 rookie Hafizh Syahrin and Pramac's Danilo Petrucci this made up the top 10 behind Vinales.

Rossi took the chequered flag in 19th, four places behind a struggling Jorge Lorenzo.

Marquez's Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was among the race's three retirements, exiting with a highside crash on the opening lap after Zarco had nudged him wide.

Race results

Pos.	#	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	40'36.342
2	5	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	0.251
3	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	2.501
4	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	4.390
5	25	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	14.941
6	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	22.533
7	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	23.026
8	29	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	23.921
9	55	Hafizh Syahrin	Yamaha	24.311
10	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	26.003
11	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	31.022
12	45	Scott Redding	Aprilia	31.891
13	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	32.452
14	21	Franco Morbidelli	Honda	42.061
15	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	42.274
16	19	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	42.625
17	12	Thomas Luthi	Honda	43.350
18	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	43.860
19	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	52.082
20	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1'03.944
21	10	Xavier Simeon	Ducati	1'10.144
Ret	38	Bradley Smith	KTM	7 laps
Ret	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	11 laps
Ret	26	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	-