Marquez remains undefeated after Argentina win

An enthralling MotoGP™ race at the Gran Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina saw Marc Marquez clinch his third win of the year, ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo in the top three.

As the race at Termas de Rio Hondo got underway Marquez got caught up in the crowd on lap one but played it patiently, picking off his opponents to get into second – eventually hunting down early leader Lorenzo, with his winning move coming eight laps from the end.

“The first lap was very difficult and we lost some ground, but we focused and recovered well. The key to winning this race was managing the tires well, especially the rear tire. My riding style can be very hard on rear tires, so I had to focus hard to save some tires for the end,” commented Marquez.

Looking ahead, he added, “I know the season is very long. Of course in Jerez we will try and win as we never know what will happen in the future. Dani is very strong and only 19 points behind me and we’re going to his favourite circuit.”

It was a good day for the Repsol Honda team as Pedrosa stayed in the chase throughout the race, eventually overtaking Lorenzo on the penultimate lap for second.

Pedrosa reflected, “Unfortunately I was not so quick at the beginning, after all the mess of lap one I was stuck with the group and couldn’t make an early pass to be quicker. In the end I was coming strong, though it took me some laps to find the rhythm.

“I enjoyed it but also kind of hated it because I was alone in third for much of the race. It is a great result for the team and next week is Jerez, which is a track I like.”

Jorge Lorenzo claimed his first podium of the season and acknowledged that it was a sweet feeling to step onto the rostrum again.

Lorenzo led for 16 laps after making one of his trademark starts, putting in some impressive early lap times as rivals Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa got caught up in the crowd in the opening stages.

On his podium return Lorenzo acknowledged, “This is probably the most sweet third position of all my career. We showed that even not in our best moment we can fight with these guys. We must keep pushing. Pedrosa was so strong at the end of the race, I was very tired and I tried my hardest to stay in second place. I decided to stay third and finish the race.”

He added, “This year is more difficult than every other year because of the engine freeze, but we can still improve the electronics and the chassis. I can also improve my riding style and with the mechanics.”

Lorenzo’s Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammate Valentino Rossi was briefly into second early on, but ran wide twice and dropped to seventh before fighting his way back up to fourth.

Solid runs from Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) saw them finish fifth and sixth – and they were 15s and 19s respectively back on Marquez.

Monster Yamaha Tech3 teammates Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro were safely inside the top 10, which was completed by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and top ‘Open’ rider Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) – the Japanese competitor crossing the line 0.073s in front of colleague Nicky Hayden.

Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) was 15th after an early crash, while there was another DNF for Alvaro Baustista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) who crashed on the first lap, as did Danilo Petrucci (IodaRacing Project).

Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) cruised to the Moto2 victory at the Gran Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina, taking the hole shot from pole and leading to the finish line, in front of Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Luis Salom (Pons HP 40).

Rabat totally controlled the race to extend his World Championship lead to 28 points, crossing the line two seconds ahead of second placed Simeon.

A lengthy battle for third was eventually won by Salom as he overtook Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) in the final stages and put the hammer down to record two fast laps and step onto the rostrum for the first time since his graduation from Moto3™.

Corsi had been in the podium hunt but eventually crossed the line behind Dominique Aegerter (TechnomagcarXpert) for his third successive fifth place finish.

The first ever Grand Prix victory at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo was clinched by Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) in an intriguing Moto3™ contest, with Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) joining the Italian on the podium.

The Moto3 riders produced another great spectacle, with Fenati making his way through and touching Marquez and Miller at the last corner to take the win.

Marquez and Miller appeared to be unhappy with Fenati’s late move but the race result stood after it was reviewed by Race Direction, though the Italian was later given a one penalty point punishment for ‘irresponsible riding causing danger to other competitors’.

A brilliant ride from birthday boy Livio Loi (Marc VDS Racing Team) saw him clinch fourth spot as he came from ninth on the grid on the day he turned 17.

FULL RESULTS:

Weather Conditions:

  |   Track Condition: Dry|   Air: 24º| Humidity: 60%|   Ground: 21º

Records:

MotoGP Standings (courtesy Repsol Honda)

— From MotoGP.com

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