The 1998 Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix was the last round of the 1998 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 25 October 1998 at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez in Buenos Aires.
The 500cc race was known as being the final 500 cc victory for Australian Mick Doohan, while the 250cc race, won by Valentino Rossi saw a controversial title decider: on the final turn of the race, race and championship leader Tetsuya Harada was struck from behind by teammate and championship rival Loris Capirossi, who ultimately clinched the championship on appeal.
500 cc classification Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Mick Doohan Repsol Honda Honda 27 47:07.332 1 25 2 2 Tadayuki Okada Repsol Honda Honda 27 +4.762 2 20 3 9 Alex Barros Honda Gresini Honda 27 +5.590 8 16 4 5 Norick Abe Yamaha Team Rainey Yamaha 27 +27.685 17 13 5 6 Max Biaggi Marlboro Team Kanemoto Honda 27 +30.254 14 11 6 55 Régis Laconi Red Bull Yamaha WCM Yamaha 27 +30.441 5 10 7 12 Jean-Michel Bayle Yamaha Team Rainey Yamaha 27 +30.647 6 9 8 8 Carlos Checa Movistar Honda Pons Honda 27 +30.944 3 8 9 15 Sete Gibernau Repsol Honda Honda 27 +32.808 4 7 10 19 John Kocinski Movistar Honda Pons Honda 27 +41.714 10 6 11 10 Kenny Roberts Jr. Team Roberts Modenas KR3 27 +46.746 11 5 12 3 Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki Grand Prix Team Suzuki 27 +48.264 13 4 13 11 Simon Crafar Red Bull Yamaha WCM Yamaha 27 +1:02.063 16 3 14 17 Jurgen van den Goorbergh Dee Cee Jeans Racing Team Honda 27 +1:03.255 15 2 15 28 Ralf Waldmann Marlboro Team Roberts Modenas KR3 27 +1:06.271 12 1 16 22 Sébastien Gimbert Tecmas Honda Elf Honda 27 +1:27.889 18 17 23 Matt Wait FCC TSR Honda 27 +1:27.960 20 18 14 Juan Borja Shell Advance Racing Honda 27 +1:28.404 19 19 42 Craig Connell Shell Advance Racing Honda 26 +1 lap 21 20 57 Fabio Carpani Team Polini Inoxmacel Honda 26 +1 lap 23 21 71 Juan Pablo Gianini Shell Advance Racing Honda 26 +1 lap 24 Ret 4 Àlex Crivillé Repsol Honda Honda 17 Accident 7 Ret 20 Luca Cadalora MuZ Roc RennSport MuZ 13 Retirement 9 DNS 88 Scott Smart Team Millar Honda Britain Honda 0 Did not start 22 Sources:
250 cc classification Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 46 Valentino Rossi Aprilia 25 44:26.581 3 25 2 65 Loris Capirossi Aprilia 25 +5.360 1 20 3 19 Olivier Jacque Honda 25 +27.096 2 16 4 5 Tohru Ukawa Honda 25 +27.451 6 13 5 44 Roberto Rolfo TSR-Honda 25 +30.820 16 11 6 9 Jeremy McWilliams TSR-Honda 25 +41.816 9 10 7 12 Noriyasu Numata Suzuki 25 +42.555 8 9 8 16 Johan Stigefelt Suzuki 25 +42.708 11 8 9 21 Franco Battaini Yamaha 25 +43.148 7 7 10 37 Luca Boscoscuro TSR-Honda 25 +52.505 15 6 11 7 Takeshi Tsujimura Yamaha 25 +54.131 12 5 12 14 Davide Bulega ERP Honda 25 +1:07.509 19 4 13 45 Diego Giugovaz Aprilia 25 +1:12.506 18 3 14 18 Osamu Miyazaki Yamaha 25 +1:35.028 17 2 15 82 Woolsey Coulter Honda 25 +1:37.371 21 1 16 22 Matthieu Lagrive Honda 25 +1:42.817 23 17 41 Federico Gartner Aprilia 25 +1:45.353 24 18 97 Diego Ruabén Honda 24 +1 lap 25 19 96 Leandro Mulet Yamaha 24 +1 lap 27 20 98 Gabriel Borgmann Yamaha 24 +1 lap 28 Ret 31 Tetsuya Harada Aprilia 24 Accident 4 Ret 6 Haruchika Aoki Honda 23 Retirement 13 Ret 25 Yasumasa Hatakeyama Honda 19 Accident 22 Ret 8 Luis d'Antin Yamaha 18 Accident 20 Ret 27 Sebastián Porto Aprilia 12 Retirement 5 Ret 17 José Luis Cardoso Yamaha 11 Retirement 10 Ret 4 Stefano Perugini Honda 10 Retirement 14 Ret 95 Matías Ríos Yamaha 1 Retirement 26 Sources:
125 cc classification Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 3 Tomomi Manako Honda 23 42:43.976 8 25 2 13 Marco Melandri Honda 23 +0.566 2 20 3 10 Lucio Cecchinello Honda 23 +1.137 16 16 4 20 Masao Azuma Honda 23 +1.191 10 13 5 4 Kazuto Sakata Aprilia 23 +16.111 3 11 6 32 Mirko Giansanti Honda 23 +16.314 4 10 7 21 Arnaud Vincent Aprilia 23 +21.921 7 9 8 5 Masaki Tokudome Aprilia 23 +22.833 13 8 9 2 Noboru Ueda Honda 23 +23.597 11 7 10 8 Gianluigi Scalvini Honda 23 +23.922 15 6 11 26 Ivan Goi Aprilia 23 +23.958 14 5 12 23 Gino Borsoi Aprilia 23 +27.543 12 4 13 9 Frédéric Petit Honda 23 +27.720 6 3 14 62 Yoshiaki Katoh Yamaha 23 +27.822 22 2 15 41 Youichi Ui Yamaha 23 +42.461 5 1 16 17 Enrique Maturana Yamaha 23 +52.756 21 17 22 Steve Jenkner Aprilia 23 +54.889 20 18 39 Jaroslav Huleš Honda 23 +55.022 19 19 94 Cristiano Vieira Honda 22 +1 lap 26 20 97 Sílvio César Zequim Honda 22 +1 lap 27 Ret 15 Roberto Locatelli Honda 10 Accident 1 Ret 16 Christian Manna Yamaha 7 Retirement 24 Ret 65 Andrea Iommi Honda 6 Accident 18 Ret 29 Ángel Nieto, Jr. Aprilia 5 Accident 23 Ret 14 Federico Cerroni Aprilia 5 Retirement 25 Ret 59 Jerónimo Vidal Aprilia 2 Retirement 17 DNS 7 Emilio Alzamora Aprilia 0 Did not start 9 DNQ 95 César Barros Honda Did not qualify Source:
Championship standings after the race (500cc)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round fourteen has concluded.
Riders' Championship standings Rider Points 1 Mick Doohan 260 2 Max Biaggi 208 3 Àlex Crivillé 198 4 Carlos Checa 139 5 Alex Barros 138
Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Honda 345 2 Yamaha 198 3 Suzuki 111 4 Modenas KR3 73 5 MuZ 11
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References