- 2023-04-03
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ MotoGP Argentina: Marco Bezzecchi Takes Maiden Win as Francesco Bagnaia Crashes
Gran Premio Michelin de la República Argentina watched Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Ducati) took his maiden win of a premier class at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo on April 2, 2023.
Persistent rain all day in at Rio Hondo led to MotoGP's first wet start since last year's Thailand GP.
He was untouchable on a wet race from start to finish, and currently led the World Championship as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) crashed out of second in the race late on.
Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) finished 2nd and pole sitter Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) was 3rd. This marks Ducati took the podium with 1-2-3.
Franco Morbidelli (Monster Yamaha) followed top 3, with quickly breaking away from the rest of the pack, and finished 4th.
Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) was 5th, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came from 16th on the grid to finish 6th.
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) moved down to 16th, but was 7th with a great recovery ride.
Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati), Alex Rins (LCR Honda) and Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati) rounded out the top 10.
Sprint race winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) crashed out at Turn 5 on the first lap after Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) made slight contact as he overtook the KTM.
At Turn 7, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) was knocked down the order from 10th to 16th after Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) forced him onto the slick painted run-off.
Four riders incidents were placed under investigation, but no further action was taken by the stewards.
Marco Bezzecchi said, “It's fantastic, it's something that you can't describe, it's incredible. I felt this morning that I was really good, but when I saw the rain I was desperate honestly, because yesterday I felt very good on the bike and felt that [on Sunday] if I didn't make any mistakes I can really try to win. [It] was the first time that I thought this in my career, and when I saw the rain it was a disaster for my emotions. Then in the warm-up I jumped on the bike and the feeling was incredible in the wet, so I said 'Ok, I can do this. And the race was incredible. It was tough because mentally these kinds of races are really hard. Honestly, I don't know. I just felt good and I was trying to be smooth. I knew the tyre was dropping quick, so I said 'Ok, I push, but I have to be sweet and be gentle with the bike', and I was also speaking to myself to try to stay concentrated because when I looked at the laps for the first time there were 14 remaining. I said, 'that's quick'. But the last 14 laps were incredible long. So, it was tough.”
Gran Premio Michelin de la República Argentina Race Results- Marco Bezzecchi / Mooney VR46 Ducati / 44m 28.518s
- Johann Zarco / Pramac Ducati / +4.085s
- Alex Marquez / Gresini Ducati / +4.681s
- Franco Morbidelli / Monster Yamaha / +7.581s
- Jorge Martin / Pramac Ducati / +9.746s
- Jack Miller / Red Bull KTM / +10.562s
- Fabio Quartararo / Monster Yamaha / +11.095s
- Luca Marini / Mooney VR46 Ducati / +13.694s
- Alex Rins / LCR Honda / +14.327s
- Fabio Di Giannantonio / Gresini Ducati / +18.515s
- Augusto Fernandez / Tech3 GASGAS / +19.380s
- Maverick Viñales / Aprilia Racing / +26.091s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / +28.394s
- Raul Fernandez / RNF Aprilia / +29.894s
- Aleix Espargaro / Aprilia Racing / +36.183s
- Francesco Bagnaia / Ducati Lenovo / +47.753s
- Brad Binder / Red Bull KTM / +48.106s
Photo MotoGP- source : MotoGP
