Marco Bezzecchi
The Argentina Grand Prix has produced some iconic moments since it was first held in 2014, so MotoGP News has taken a look at five unforgettable moments.
The race made a return to the calendar in 2014 at the Termas de Rio Hondo in Santiago, having previously been held in Buenos Aires in the 1990s.
The first race was won by Marc Marquez, with the Spaniard taking victory from Dani Pedrosa during his impressive run of victories at the start of the 2014 season.
Marquez would lose out in the second year after a titanic battle with Valentino Rossi, which is the start of the list of our best moments.
Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi duel and collide – 2015
The 2015 season was one of the best moments in MotoGP history when Marquez and Rossi clashed on track duelling for the win.
Rossi had worked his way up from eighth on the grid and duelled with polesitter Marquez in the closing stages, but the pair would push things to the limit with the Honda rider coming out worse off.
A late-race collision saw Marquez crash out of the race, handing victory to Rossi and setting the stage for one of the sport’s greatest rivalries.
Ducati riders collide and promote Rossi and Pedrosa to the podium in final laps – 2016
The golden rule in motorsport is never crash into your teammate, but the Ducati riders appeared not to get the memo in 2016.
Andrea Iannone was seeking redemption after losing out to Marquez in the early stages of the race, but it all ended in tears when he took a swipe at his teammate Andrea Dovizioso fighting for second.
The pair made contact which took both of them out on the spot at the penultimate corner on the final lap of the race, promoting Rossi and Dani Pedrosa to the podium.
Jack Miller and the bizarre rain-affected start – 2018
Rain in motorsport can often throw up a lottery and generate crazy moments, but the start of the 2018 Argentina GP was downright bizarre.
As the rain hit the track, the riders and engineers were debating over whether they should switch to wet tyres. As it turned out, all of the 23 riders apart from Jack Miller made the decision, but with so many in the pit lane race control had to stop the race.
FIM officials scratched their heads as they released the remaining riders, as they felt Miller deserved some advantage for having predicted the conditions correctly and stayed on slicks.
The solution was to line up the 24 riders, but with the other 23 riders four rows behind Miller. Cue the bizarre scenes of Miller looking back as the riders took to their grid slots.
Cal Crutchlow takes last British victory in MotoGP – 2018
Miller made the most of his gap to the remaining riders, but Marquez would eventually climb up to the lead.
However, because he stalled his bike on the grid he should have started from the pit lane. Instead, he successfully jump-started the bike using the gap between himself and Miller on the grid, then rode back to his grid slot, much to the dismay of his fellow competitors.
The stewards deemed the stunt worthy of a penalty and Marquez was forced to pit for a ride-through penalty. This dropped him to 19th place, but it was far from over.
Cal Crutchlow would duel with Johann Zarco on the penultimate lap, with the Briton snatching the win away from the Frenchman and taking what was the last British rider victory in the top class of motorcycle racing.
Marc Marquez masterclass: wins by nearly 10s from Valentino Rossi – 2019
Marquez would get redemption for missing out in 2018 and losing to Rossi in 2015. Having started the race from pole, he would go on to lead a lights-to-flag victory from his arch-rival.
Rossi fought through the field from fourth on the grid, but Marquez’s consistency enabled him to build up a stunning lead with him crossing the line nearly 10 seconds ahead of the Italian.
It would be the first of 11 victories in what became a dominant season for the Spanish rider, and the last year he won a title in the top class.
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