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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 / APRIL 6-8, 2018 TERMAS DE RÍO HONDO / SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO PROVINCE, ARGENTINA P80 iii My Own Race: 35 CAL CRUTCHLOW 1ST MOTOGP "It was nice to win, but it was to be expected, to be honest," said MotoGP winner Cal Crutchlow. "I came into the weekend thinking I could leave here with a chance of being first or second with Marc [Marquez] and we ended up winning. I was comfortable in the battle, I felt I took no risks and stayed with riders that I probably could have dropped should I have needed to. We have to be pleased, the team has done a fantastic job in the last two races and I think we could have fought for victory no matter which circuit it would have been this weekend." 93 MARC MARQUEZ 18TH MOTOGP "It was a tricky race in very tough conditions, with several drawbacks," said Marc Marquez. "Just before the start I had an issue with the engine, which stopped. We'll look into it later. Anyway, I put my hands up but nobody was there. I was able to restart the bike and then I looked for some input from the marshals, as I wasn't sure if, with the bike running again, I should go to my place on the grid or back to the pits. One marshal raised his hands, and a second one gave the thumbs up, which I interpreted to mean I could stay. When I saw the penalty message on the dashboard, I didn't under- stand why, but I of course complied. Then I obviously tried push to recover and unfortunately I made some mistakes, the biggest one I believe being with Aleix. I approached faster than him and I didn't realize it. I tried my best to avoid contact but unfortunately I wasn't able. I saw the penalty and, to be safe, gave up two positions, not just one, before starting to push again. With Valentino it was different, as it was a consequence of the track conditions. I touched a wet patch, locked the front, and released the brakes. I tried to turn, again making my best effort to avoid contact. When he crashed I immediately apologized. It was a racing incident as happened earlier with Zarco and Dani, and then with Petrucci and Aleix. It was a tricky Sunday. Of course today I made some mistakes, which I recognize. Other mistakes were made by Race Direction on the grid, and others were due to the difficult conditions, but one thing I know for sure: never in my career have I intentionally hit another rider." 46 VALENTINO ROSSI 19TH MOTOGP "I'm okay, but this is a very bad situation," said Valentino Rossi said of the incident with Marquez that put him to the ground. "If you take what happened this weekend as an example, one incident can happen to anybody. You can make a mistake in braking, you can touch the other guy; it can happen, it's racing. But from Friday morning on, Marquez did this to Vinales, to Dovizioso, to me, and on Saturday morning, and today he went straight through four riders. If you start to race like this, you raise the level to a very dangerous point. If all the riders race like this, this will become a very dangerous sport and it will finish in a bad way. It's a very danger- ous situation and I hope that what I said to Race Director Mike Webb makes them take more responsibility; they have to do something. I'm scared on the track when I'm with Marquez. I was scared today when I saw his name on the board. I'm not Race Direction—they will decide—but like this he is destroying our sport, because when you do 300km/h on the track, you have to have respect for your rivals." 99 JORGE LORENZO 15TH MOTOGP "Today's conditions were the worst possible for me, the ones where I feel most ill-at-ease: having to ride with slicks when the track still has wet patches," said Jorge Lorenzo. "In addition, starting from row five certainly didn't help me much, and as I was in the middle of the group at the first curve, I had to try and avoid crashing out like last year. Afterwards I tried to make up some positions and when the track finally dried out, I began to lap with good times, something that I hadn't done at all throughout the weekend and my feeling improved."

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