Aprilia makes MotoGP history in Argentina

Aprilia and Aleix Espargaro both notched their first MotoGP victories, with the Spaniard winning it from pole position at the 2022 Argentina Grand Prix. It was a fitting way to celebrate his 200th MotoGP start and shows the sort of persistence and determination required to enjoy success it the very peak of the sport.

“Just a dream,” is how he described it once he composed himself in parc ferme, not least because the 32-year-old now leads the championship standings after three of the 22-round series.

And if anyone is questioning the health and spectacle of the grand prix word championship in its 74th season, the numbers don’t lie. There’s now been nine different riders on the first three podiums of the season, just 10 points separate the top five riders and they’re all riding for five different manufacturers.

Related Reading:
Enea Bastianini starts MotoGP 2022 with emotional win
12 things you need to know ahead of MotoGP 2022
Aprilia MotoGP team joins forces with tractor giant

Although Espargaro was fast all weekend, which was shortened to just two days of practice and qualifying due late cargo arrivals, he didn’t have the race all his own way. In fact, it was the fast-starting Pramac Ducati of Jorge Martin who led for 21 of the 25-lap race and right from the first corner, as the Aprilia rider failed to capitalise on his pole position off the line.

Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati) slotted into third after his first premier-class front-row start but didn’t have the pace to run with the two Spaniards who by lap three were already a second clear of the chasing pack. Pol Espargaro, the sole Repsol Honda rider with Marc Marquez still suffering double vision, took Marini for third place, but despite being relegated to fourth by Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins with 19 laps to go, look determined to share the history-making podium with his brother by race end.

After two failed attempts of trying to out-brake Martin, Espargaro’s race-winning move came with just four laps left to run and as he crossed the line to start his final lap he was six-tenths clear. It would have felt like the longest 4.35km of his life.

He didn’t get to share the podium spoils with his brother in the end, though; the Honda man crashed out of fourth place with just 10 laps to go, leaving Rins to race through for the final podium spot. Half a second back in fourth was Rins’ Suzuki teammate Joan Mir, who was fourth and four seconds clear of Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia (who did well to recover from his terrible qualification of 17th). That fifth place was a fight between Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), with the Aprilia rider losing out to both rivals on the final lap.

Reigning world champ Fabio Quartararo finished eighth after went backwards from his sixth-place starting position and was mired mid-pack in the early stages. Marco Bezzechi (Mooney VR46 Ducati) is continuing his hugely impressive rookie run – he finished ninth ahead of Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) and his more experienced teammate Marini.

Aussie Jack Miller blamed a lack of front-end confidence for his ending the race in the same position as he started in 14th.

“I’ve never done a race without passing one single person in my entire life. That for me is a massive blow,” said Miller, who despite qualifying with the 11th-fastest time, was demoted three grid positions for riding slow on the racing line and disturbing a fast lap being put in by Quartararo. Fellow Aussie Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM) finished 17th.

Andrea Dovizioso’s (RNF Yamaha) return to GP racing is going from bad to worse – he retired early on due to a mechanical issue, while both Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati) joined the younger Espargaro on the crashers list.

Aleix Espargaro (45 points) leads the standings by seven points from Binder (38), Bastianini (36), Rins (36) and Quartararo (35).

Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46) is living up to his preseason promise, taking his second win of the season in a 23-lap Moto2 Grand Prix in Argentina. But it was Moto2 rookie and pole man Fermin Aldegeur (MB Conveyancers Speed Up) who got the holeshot to snatch the early lead. Vietti benefitted from a great launch off the line to find himself up into second place by the end of the opening lap.

The Italian passed Aldeguer for the lead on the fourth time around, however a few laps later the pair collided and it was the young teenager who came off second best, exiting the race just 24 hours after becoming the youngest rider to ever score a pole position in the intermediate class. The crash elevated the winner of the Indonesian GP, Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda) to second with Aron Canet (HP Flexbox) leading Chantra’s Idemitsu teammate Ai Ogura and Tony Arbolino (MarcVDS Racing).

With 11 laps to go, Ogura passed Canet for third and while a mistake a few laps later allowed the Spaniard back trough, it was the Japanese man who made a pass on Canet at the final corner to take the final spot on the podium.

The win puts Vietti (70 points) 21 points clear of Chantra (45) in the standings with Ogura (36) third ahead of MarcVDS Racing teammates Sam Lowes (35) and Arbolino (29).

It’s not very often the pole sitter of a Moto3 race ends up on the top step, but that’s exactly what happened for Sergio Garcia (GasGas Aspar) at Argentina. Far from a flag-to-flag win though, the young Spaniard rode a clever race and took the advantage in one of the most dramatic last laps we’ve seen this season.

It was looking to be a good day for the Aspar team, until Garcia’s teammate Izan Guevara’s bike cried no more just 10 laps in while he was leading the race. The experienced Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Honda) made the most of it, snatching the lead and looking to make up for his DNF last time out, but he and Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM) tangled and crashed out with seven laps to go.

It was Dennis Foggia (Leopard Honda) who crossed the line to lead the final lap of the race ahead of Garcia and Ayumi Sasaki (Sterilgarda Max Husqvarna), despite the Japanese rider serving a long lap penalty for his antics last time out, and Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Honda) in fourth.

Suzuki got himself between Foggia and Garcia at Turn 5, perfectly placed to protect his teammate’s narrow world championship lead, but Garcia had other ideas and jammed himself up the inside of Suzuki at Turn 9, and with supreme confidence, did the same thing to Foggia a few corners later to take a well-deserved win ahead of Foggia and Sasaki.

Aussie Joel Kelso had a stellar qualifying session, putting himself in the middle of the second row to start the race in fifth, and while a 10th-place finish wouldn’t be what he was hoping for, it’s an excellent finish for a rookie in a hugely competitive field.

Garcia’s epic last lap means he takes over at the top of standings with 58 points to Foggia’s 54. Izan Guevara (28) holds on to third albeit 30 points down, with Kaito Toba (26) and Deniz Oncu (26) rounding out the top five.

The series now head to the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for the fourth round this weekend.