Massive sook free Argentine MotoGP preview

MotoGP 2023

Round Two – Termas de Río Hondo

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Well, Portugal certainly kicked things off with a bang!  In this preview we will just stick to what is coming up this weekend rather than go over yet again the hissyfits, blame games and overall load of absolute shit being talked about by all and sundry in the wake of what was an incredible season opening weekend at the challenging Portimao circuit.

Still, I guess we should start with who is not making the journey.  Enea Bastianini, Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira all remain in Europe and it looks unlikely that any of them will be replaced this weekend. And of course in Moto3 we are missing our own ginger ninja Joel Kelso as he recovers from that sickening post race accident last weekend.

The remainder of the MotoGP paddock has packed up the travelling roadshow for the long haul quick turn around from the beautiful Algarve coast of Southern Portugal, to the northern regions of Argentina. As the crow flies that is a distance of over 9250 kilometres. Nice on a chartered plane, but if you have to do half a dozen connections to get there that is a good couple of days of airports and planes, while trying to dodge the flu or spicy cough. Not mint.

Argentina has been an on and off again affair in regards to the World Motorcycle Championships. On the calendar in the early 60s, then missing for the 70s, a few rounds in the 80s and 90s, before now being a full time appointment every year since 2014, apart from the COVID dark times of 2020 and 2021 that is. This year will mark the 18th time that Argentina has hosted a motorcycle GP, the eighth at Termas de Rio Hondo. The previous ten took place in Buenos Aires, the last of which was in 1999 and won by Kenny Roberts Junior.

Happy hunting ground for Aussies

The Argentine Motorcycle Grand Prix has been a happy hunting ground for Aussies. Only four riders riders have taken three GP victories in Argentina; Tom Phillis, Mick Doohan, Hugh Anderson and Marc Marquez.

Phillis won the 125 and 250 cc races in 1961 after winning the first 250 race in Argentina the year before. All three of his wins coming on Honda machinery.

Hugh Anderson, a Kiwi but as we claim all good Kiwis as Aussies, took three victories for Suzuki, the 50 cc GPs in 1962 and 63, and the 125 race in 1962.  Mick Doohan won the 500 cc GP races in 1994, 1995 and 1998, while Marc Marquez won the MotoGP races in 2014, 2016 and 2019.

A little bit dirty…

Before teams even arrive they have been warned that the Termas de Río Hondo surface is dirty and the track infrastructure poorly prepared.  During the rest of the year, the small spa destination of Termas de Rio Hondo is home to just 30,000 people. However its population multiplies when the world’s fastest riders come to town.

The Termas asphalt is abrasive and the 14 corners that make up the 4.806km lap (five left-handers, nine right) allow little margin for error. What’s more, the track’s overall usage varies from season to season and, having not been used in recent weeks, riders will initially need to contend with a dirty surface that has not been rubbered in.

To add to the challenge, forecasters are predicting high temperatures of around 30°C (with a minimum of 22°C), which will equate to a track temperature in excess of 40°C for the bikes and tyres to handle – a situation exacerbated by the circuit’s difficult braking zones, particularly at the end of the long 1078 metre back straight.

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Them’s the brakes…

MotoGP riders use their brakes for a total of 30 seconds per lap at Termas. Over race distance the brakes are used by each rider for more than 12.5 minutes, 31 per cent of the total race time, but overall the circuit is not all that demanding on brakes. Turn five is the most difficult one to tackle because riders come onto it after a 1,076 meter long straight that sees riders brake from 330 km/h all the way down to just over 70 km/h, with riders on the brakes for 6.3 seconds and 293 metres.

Ducati

While Ducati has arrived in Argentina without Bastianini it seems that that in the light of the dirty conditions they will start as favourites, even more so than normal.  It doesn’t seem to matter what category of racing; ASBK, WorldSBK or MotoGP, Ducati have some wizardry in their chassis geometry that translates to incredible drive, and when tracks are in sub optimal shape this advantage becomes more apparent than ever.

Coming off a fantastic weekend in Portugal, which saw him dominate both the Sprint Race and Sunday’s race, Bagnaia will be the only one to defend the colours of the Ducati Lenovo Team at Termas. The reigning World Champion, who is already at the top of the new standings, will try to repeat himself at the South American track, where Ducati currently has had three podiums, the most recent being the second place of Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing) in the past edition of the Argentina GP. However, Ducati are yet to taste victory on Argentinian soil.

Francesco Bagnaia

“In last week’s GP, everything was perfect, and I hope the same happens here in Argentina. Compared to Portimão, where we had tested a few weeks before the race, here we will have to start our work from scratch, so it will be important to take good advantage of each session. In any case, I am optimistic: my feeling with the bike is incredible, so I am confident that I can do well in any condition. This weekend I will be the only one representing my team. I wish Enea a speedy recovery, and I hope he can be back on track with us in Austin.”

On the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini return to work in Argentina amidst the desire of redemption and the search for confirmation.

Marco Bezzecchi arrives off the back of a Portimao podium to a track where he took his first career win, Moto3 victory with KTM in 2018.

Marco Bezzecchi

“It will be difficult to confirm the same feelings as Portimao, but in Argentina last year I was very fast. I hit the first points in the Top class and then the TOP10. Let’s keep going like this: let’s keep our feet on the ground even if a start like this is amazing. We have been working hard since Friday which, with this year’s new schedule, becomes a very important day.”

A double retirement in Portimao after shining during practice and qualifying, Luca remains confident of what he did in the pre-season on a track, the Argentine one, which is well suited to his characteristics and those of his bike.

Luca Marini

“I’m happy to be back on track immediately, I can’t wait to leave the Portimao GP behind me. Let’s go to Termas with a clear mind to get off to a good start on Friday and do a good reset. Ride as I want, take the measurements of a track where no one has tested. I like the track a lot, but I’m not the only one, many will be fast here. We start from the same base of the test to do well.”

It was a weekend of two halves for both Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin in Portugal, and both will want a more balanced weekend Argentina. Zarco had a tougher Tissot Sprint before becoming the star of the show in that hard-fought battle for fourth on Sunday, and Martin crashed in the GP race after having lost out in the Marquez-Oliveira incident. On Saturday, however, Martin was close to that Sprint win – and went very close to denying Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia their first Grand Prix win last year in Argentina.

Friday and Saturday were a bit underwhelming for Alex Marquez after pre-season progress on his new Ducati, but Sunday was both a good result and a fantastic battle too. He’ll be buoyed by that and on the hunt for more in Argentina – where he’s won in Moto3 and Moto2.

Fabio Di Giannantonio, meanwhile, needs to unlock the flashes of pace we’ve seen and take that step forward we’ve seen before.

Aprilia

Aleix Espargaro

“It’s obvious that going back to Argentina brings back wonderful memories, but this is a new season. Anyway, I am confident because in Portugal we got the answers we were looking for, I am satisfied with our level, we need to improve in qualifying to be able to prove it in the two races. Being caught up in the battles in the middle of the group inevitably makes you lose time, so we will have to start further ahead to be able to put our pace to good use“.

Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales outscored Aleix last weekend and is starting the season strongly. He even clashed with his team-mate in the Sprint Race which indicates he out to change the pecking order and demote ‘The Captain’.

Maverick Vinales

“It’s only the beginning of the season but I’m feeling good. Aprilia has worked well and I feel more comfortable in the saddle, I can exploit the RS-GP better. Our objective remains to always extract the maximum from our bike, if we do this consistently I am sure the results will come. Argentina and America are two tracks that I like, I arrive there motivated“.

Over at the satellite CryptoDATA RNF squad they are without Miguel Oliveira and with Raul Fernandez somewhat under a cloud.  Fernandez felt a numbness in his right arm from the second half of the race, which eventually led to his crash. Although he doesn’t know the reason behind it yet, he still feels it and will undergo further checking with the doctor.

Raul Fernandez

“Argentina is a beautiful track, that I like a lot. I thank it can suit our bike well too. Last year, I did a good race in Termas de Rio Hondo, so I am very happy to come back. We did a decent job during the first race weekend of 2023 in Portugal last week and if we continue like this and improve the Qualifying, I think we can have a strong race.”

KTM

Friday in Portugal felt like Jack Miller ripped the covers off a magic trick, but maybe it shouldn’t have. A lot of work has gone in, a lot of laps have been done and it seems like KTM are on their way. Miller too. What can we expect this weekend at a very different venue?

Jack Miller

“The set-up, the geometry of the bike – we’re pretty set with that now – but the electronics are a lot better than the previous times I’ve ridden the bike. Every time we go out, they get better. And then there’s the confidence that comes with seat time from riding the bike. Add all of those things together, and we’ve made good progress. The bike feels more my own every exit I do, corner by corner, lap by lap. I’m getting the feedback I’m wanting.”

Team-mate Brad Binder, meanwhile, still somehow managed to stun on Sunday despite ongoing neck pain after a crash in testing. The South African got stuck in in that awesome fight for fourth, and with a few more days will hopefully be a little closer to feeling 100 per cent.

Both Miller and Binder at full pelt is quite a force to contend with and the South African has said he benefitted greatly at Portimao from the set-up achieved by Miller’s side of the garage, and that was what allowed him to turn it around on Sunday.

Yamaha

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli have safely arrived in Argentina and are ready to battle for points again. Having had a first experience with the new GP weekend format, the duo are looking forward to making a comeback at the Autodromo do Termas de Río Hondo and climb the leader board.

Though he didn’t end the first Sprint and Race of the season in as high a position as he would have liked, Quartararo took the positives from the first GP and is keen to show good race pace again this weekend in Argentina.

Fabio Quartararo

“Considering my position after the opening lap of the Portuguese race, I did a pretty good job getting eighth place and still scoring points. With no points in the Sprint, we are already a bit behind in the standings – but the season is still very long, and we already have an opportunity to climb up in the rankings this weekend! Termas is not my best track, but I think we can do a good job. We know there‘s not a lot of grip here though, so we have to work around that.”

Franco Morbidelli is hugely popular in Latin America, thanks to his Brazilian roots. He can expect the support of the local fans, who will be cheering him on this weekend. The number-21 rider aims to do them proud like he did in 2017 when he secured victory in the Moto2 class.

Franco Morbidelli

“The positive thing about opening the season with back-to-back GP weekends is that we immediately have another chance to improve at the next track. Last year‘s tyre puncture in the Argentina GP ended my race early. It‘s nice that this year we have a Sprint and a Race, so in a way I can make up for it by racing twice this year. We are working hard on finding something to improve our performance level.”

Honda

Joan Mir will be the sole representative of the Repsol Honda Team at the Gran Premio Michelin de la República Argentina as Marc Marquez recovers from surgery.

Joan Mir

“A busy start to the year as we are already heading straight to the next race! For us, still in the learning stages, this is a positive because we are able to get more time on the bike and immediately try out some new ideas. We had a mixed weekend in Portimao, so I am hoping everything can run without incident this weekend and I can get more miles on the bike. This is the objective, to keep building and improve our speed in both races. Last year I managed a good result in Termas, so I am interested to see what we can do this year. I also want to wish Marc all the best in his recovery, it is always better to be riding alongside him on track and have him in the garage.”

Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) will be hoping to make some strides forward towards the front.

GASGAS

With Pol Espargaro out of action, rookie Augusto Fernandez will be the only GASGAS team representative this weekend.

Augusto Fernandez

“We just finished the first round in Portimao, and I am really proud of this first race and how we have done things, but now I am already looking forward to going to Argentina. It is a track that I like and I have been good there in the past, so we will see how it feels on the MotoGP bike. We’ll continue our learning process with all the data and experience we took in Portimao. I can’t wait!”

Argentina AEDT/AEST Schedule

MotoGP Championship Points

Moto2

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) overcame two kinds of pressure in Portimao to leave with the first win of the season: the pressure of Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) chasing him all the way home, and that of the hype that has already risen to swirl around the number 37 again.

With a little less experience of Termas de Rio Hondo, can he keep the roll going? Can Canet hit back? Or will the very different venue belong to someone else entirely?

Moto2 Championship Points

Moto3

The season opener saw Moto3 sophomores lock out the podium, with Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3), David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) and Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) pipping rookie Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo). Now the likes of veterans Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) and Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) will be looking to hit back… and Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) will be aiming for less of a mountain to climb.

Aussie Joel Kelso will miss this one as he recovers from surgery from his clash with Holgado after the chequered flag last weekend at Portimao.  It had been a successful start to the season for Kelso and we look forward to his return.

Moto3 Championship Points

2023 MotoGP Calendar