Estrella Galicia 0,0 riders Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) raced this Sunday the Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, round two of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) were absent in Argentina due to injury, as was Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) after his crash in Saturday’s Sprint Race, who was transferred to Santiago del Estero for observation.
Alex Marquez led both qualifying sessions on Saturday and took his first podium with Ducati on Sunday, while Rins, ninth, led the second group at the halfway point of a race that was won by Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi.
Next round of the MotoGP World Championship will take place at COTA (Austin, Texas) on 16 April, with the Grand Prix of The Americas.
ALEX MARQUEZ
Saturday Race: 5º, +2.462 / Sunday Race: 3º, +4.681
As his brother Marc did last weekend, Alex set the fastest time in Q1 (1’47.529 on the wet) to become first again in Q2 (1’43.881 on dry), taking his first pole position in the premier class of MotoGP.
In the Sprint Race he stayed in the leading group for the first few laps, eventually finishing fifth, less than 2.5 seconds behind the winner Brad Binder, after leading in a tight head-to-head battle with reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia.
In Sunday’s race, Alex started second behind leader Marco Bezzecchi, setting the fastest lap and holding the position for most of the laps. In the final moments he was relegated to third, which is still his first podium of the season. He runs now 4th in the championship with 33 points.
“We have a fantastic bike, so let’s enjoy it and keep working”
“I am very satisfied with today’s podium. We did our best and we scored a lot of points for the championship, which is the most important thing. It was very easy to make a mistake, I was struggling at the end with the rear grip and Johann [Zarco] was very fast. [Marco] Bezzecchi was also very fast at the beginning and I wasn’t able to go with him, but I’m still very happy. It’s great to be on the podium after Aragón 2020. It’s been a long time, so I’m enjoying it with the team, who are amazing people. We have a fantastic bike, so let’s enjoy it and keep working because even better things can come.”
ALEX RINS
Saturday Race: 15º, +8.687 / Sunday Race: 9º, +14.327
The Aragonese rider qualified directly to Q2 on Friday, being the third fastest on Saturday morning FP. In Q2 he qualified twelfth (1’48.694), so he started from the fourth row of the grid for Saturday and Sunday’s races.
In the Sprint Race he managed to start in the top ten, but his braking problems dropped him to 16th. He managed, however, to make up one place to finish 15th, just over eight seconds behind the winner.
In Sunday’s race, he made a magnificent start that led him to ride fifth leading the second group, but he lost ground in the final part of the race due to visibility problems and crossed the finish line in 9th position. He is 12th in the championship with 13 points.
“I had a problem with the visor of the helmet and I couldn’t see well”
“It’s been a shame because we felt good. I’ve had a problem with the visor of the helmet, at some point I started to lose visibility and I couldn’t see properly, and that made me lose positions. We still need to improve in the braking and traction areas, but we’d done a step forward compared to yesterday and today we could’ve done a good job.”
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