MotoGP: Rossi wins in Argentina after Marquez clash - MotorSportsTalk

Valentino Rossi extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP championship standings by claiming an emphatic yet controversial victory in Argentina on Sunday.

The Yamaha rider emerged victorious following a tight battle with Marc Marquez in the final stages of the race that ended in the Honda racer crashing out with two laps to go.

Marquez had led the field away from pole position at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, with Rossi starting all the way down in eighth place on the grid.

The nine-time world champion managed to fight his way through the field, though, moving up into second place with 14 laps remaining.

He soon managed to reel in Marquez, but the Spaniard refused to back down without a fight. However, he pushed too hard, clipping Rossi’s rear wheel and crashing out of the race.

This allowed the Italian rider to ease to his second win of the season and extend his lead at the top of the world championship standings ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, who crossed the line in second place following Marquez’s retirement.

Cal Crutchlow managed to inherit the final podium position as a result of the clash at the front, marking his first top three finish since joining Honda for the 2015 season. Andrea Iannone finished fourth for Ducati ahead of Rossi’s Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo.

As a result of the incident, Marquez now finds himself 30 points down on Rossi after just three races, with the stewards taking no action against either rider in the aftermath of the race.

American rider Nicky Hayden finished just outside of the points-paying positions in P16.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”