Photo: Yamaha

Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) is still the man to beat in the aftermath of the Argentina GP.

At the beginning of the race, it looked as if Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) would take the win, as the reigning champ built up a respectable lead very quickly, from pole position.  Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) snatched second, with Vinales and teammate Valentino Rossi (starting from seventh) trying to get past.

Eventually, Vinales picked off Crutchlow, and Marquez managed to crash out in Turn 2. That left Vinales with a clear lead and Crutchlow and The Doctor locked in a struggle for second.

Rossi prevailed with seven laps remaining, giving him his second straight podium finish, and Crutchlow finished in third. Both riders were likely pleased with their results, as Rossi’s proving to be deadly competition despite his age and Crutchlow has seen much improved results since moving to LCR Honda.

Dani Pedrosa, Danilo Petrucci, Johann Zarco, Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Dovizioso were all fighting for fourth when Pedrosa crashed in the same place as teammate Marquez. Dovizioso followed him into the weeds when Aleix Espargaro took them both out of competition, leaving Bautista in fourth, Zarco in fifth, and  jonas Folger in sixth. Petrucci finished seventh, Scott Redding eighth, Jack Miller ninth, and Karel Abraham rounded out the top 10.

Moto2

On the last lap, it was down to Marc VDS teammates Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez battling it out for the lead. The scrap ended when Marquez followed his big brother’s lead and crashed, leaving polesitter Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to finish second and Tom Luthi (CarXpert Interwetten) to fill out the podium in third.

Marquez had been trying to catch his teammate for much of the race; Morbidelli took the holeshot, and after some early shuffling, the two riders pulled away from the pack and scrapped it out for the lead after Marquez got into striking distance. Marquez managed to get back on track after his crash, but didn’t manage to earn any points.

Moto3

Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) won the Moto3 race; it was his second straight win. It was an impressive accomplishment, as Mir had started P16. John McPhee (British Talent Team) was the polesitter, but  Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) took the lead at the start.

From there, McPhee and teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio along with Martin, Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia), Philipp Oettl (Südmetall Schedl GP Racing) and Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) were all trading places at the front of the pack. But in the end, Mir prevailed, although it was a close thing on the las lap, as McPhee kept the gap close.

Moto GP standings after Race 2 of 18

1. Maverick Viňales, Spain, Movistar Yamaha, 50 points
2. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Movistar Yamaha, 36
3. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Ducati Team, 20
4. Scott Redding, U.K. Octo Pramac Ducati, 17
5. Cal Crutchlow, U.K., LCR Honda, 16
6. Jonas Folger, Germany, Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, 16
7. Jack Miller, Australia, Estrella-Galica Honda, 15
8. Marc Marquez, Spain, Repsol Honda, 13
9. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Pull & Bear Aspar, 13
10. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Repsol Honda, 11

Next race Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, April 16.