Phantom Racer in Ranked Race causes Ruckus!!!

I'm not sure how many people have experienced this, but I know I am not the only one.  There is a glitch in the online race, or an abnormality where there can be a Phantom Racer.  He will start the race before everyone and then dissapear, you assume he is disqualified because his gamertag is now a darkened black color.

However, he is still there. I was in first place out of 7 racers, when I see that I am approaching a black translucent triangle racing on the map.  I was yellow and when I payed attention to the obstacles in front of me, I saw a ghost racer, racing as if he was apart of our race.  This was a ranked race so I was cautious not to touch him, since I drive the platinum P12 all the time, and his car was possibly stronger than my own.  Eventually, he crashed into a car and that car crashed into me. When I continued the race, both he and I were bumping each other until i took him out. For the rest of the race I was in first place and saw that others began to pass him, but no one said anything about him being there, I know I wasn't the only one with a mic because I heard people sniffing and coughing in the background. 

I was a good thing I won the race, only because it was a ranked race. When I had finished it showed that he was disqualified anyways. Still that was weird?

Criterion, can this be fixed in an update?  Was my connection messed up or the Phantom Racer's?

Can anyone explain to me what happened?

-blackwolf22303