Going into the Argentine grand prix weekend, we knew it would be full of surprises. The circuit sees little use outside of MotoGP’s annual visit, so grip was expected to be at an all-time low. Riders and teams would struggle to get full performance out of their bikes, of that we were certain. Plus, last year’s race here was chaotic – marred by the lack of Friday practice and won by a rider who was lucky enough to have the strongest base setting in the grid.
What could possibly make things harder or more complicated? The weather. Rain forecasts followed the paddock into Argentina, and the entire weekend was spent on a circuit that was varying between damp from morning rain and actively being showered on. As if the riders needed less grip, the dirty and dusty Termas de Rio Hondo circuit was unresponsive to the current tire allocation at the best of times.
This meant several things. Firstly, the riders and bikes that could perform well in difficult conditions were immediately rewarded. Factory Aprilia riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales were quick out the gates and took a 1-2 in both of the practice sessions on Friday, marking themselves as immediate favourites for the races on Saturday and Sunday. The base setup of the Aprilia, much like last year’s, appears to be incredibly consistent from week to week and has a good level of handling in low grip conditions such as the Argentine circuit.
The second was that when the rain did come, fortune favoured the brave. Wet conditions on Saturday threw a spanner in the works for several riders, marring the progress of the KTM’s in Q1 and halting their progress into Q2. Comparatively, Alex Marquez went into the rain conditions like a fish to water and topped both qualifying sessions to take his first pole position in the premier class. This was no mistake or lucky break; Marquez, along with fellow front row starters Marco Bezzechi and Pecco Bagnaia, made a last-minute change from wet tires to slicks as the track dried underneath the heavy MotoGP bikes and was able to lap some seconds faster than anyone else in the session.
Another interesting example of riders having contrasting fortunes in the difficult conditions was the factory Yamaha team. Having spent the last year and a half copping flack for not being nearly as competitive as his world champion teammate, Franco Morbidelli had a terrific weekend splashing around Termas. For whatever reason, dealing with a total lack of grip appeared to unlock some of the raw talent that everyone knew Franky was capable of, and he was consistently in the top ten during practice and qualified on the second row. Comparatively, Fabio Quartararo looked absolutely miserable all Friday and barely snuck into Q2 on Saturday, starting from the fourth row for the second week running.
Which brings us to the sprint race, the second of its kind in the new and improved MotoGP weekend structure. The track was nice and wet from the intermittent showers, but the weather did hold out long enough to have dry conditions declared for the race. It looked as though the Ducatis on the front row would be danger men, with Marquez looking awesome in the wet qualifying and Bezzechi being something of a circuit specialist here. Would the Aprilias be able to interfere based on their Friday form, despite suffering a poor qualifying session and starting from the second and third rows?
The answer was no, and the challenge to Ducati’s dominance instead came in the form of a fast-charging KTM from all the way back in 15th on the grid. Brad Binder got one of the best starts I’ve ever seen in a MotoGP race and went flying down the inside into turn one, making it up to sixth before the end of the first sector and taking the lead by the time the third lap of twelve was completed. The South African is often someone whose name comes up when talking about riders that succeed in poor track conditions, but qualifying on the fifth row had ruled him out of most people’s list of contenders. He was here to prove everyone wrong.
Binder delivered in spades, controlling the race from the front for the majority of its running, and only really coming under fire on the last couple of laps when a fast-charging Bezzechi got into second and started hunting him down. The Italian was fastest on track, but Binder defended brilliantly to take the sprint victory. It was his first win since 2021, and continues the streak of KTMs winning in wet weather conditions – 2022 saw former teammate Oliveira win both rain-affected races, and Binder’s ’21 victory was similarly wet and wild.
It’s important to note at this point, two rounds in, that KTM have already done a brilliant job of proving that their pre-season form was not reflective of the bike’s capabilities. Based on the form shown in Sepang and Portimao before the season opener, many pundits (including myself) had the Austrian manufacturer at the bottom of our rankings for contention in the 2023 championship, and KTM have managed to embarrass every single one of the doubters. Jack Miller was awesome all weekend in Portimao, Binder joined the fray on the Sunday, and it took just three races for them to bag their first win of the season. Expect them to be consistent contenders for at least the near future.
Binder’s luck didn’t continue into the feature race. The South African was wiped out in the opening stages and re-joined well outside the points – or as well outside as you can be when only 17 riders start the race. The real fast starter in this instance was Bezzechi, who got into the lead early and promptly disappeared up the road. The Italian won comfortably to take his first win in the premier class in just his second season, becoming the third graduate of Valentino Rossi’s academy to win in MotoGP.
Was this win possible to predict? For those watching closely in recent history, absolutely. Bezz was comfortably the best rookie of his batch last year and took the VR46 team’s first podium and first pole position. He’s shown real speed and talent in both Moto2 and Moto3 previously, and the GP22 Ducati underneath him is a proven race winning motorcycle. Many people in the paddock were stipulating that a first win from the young Italian was a question of when rather than if, and those people were proven right this weekend.
Behind the runaway leader, a chasing pack formed, comprised of the Ducatis of Bagnaia and Marquez and the Yamaha of Morbidelli, who was once again pulling some stunning form out of nowhere. Bagnaia seemed to have the upper hand but simply couldn’t shake the relentless Marquez behind him, the two exchanging moves several times throughout the first half of the race. When the Italian did finally break the resolve of the Gresini rider behind him, he began to stretch his lead in second place – only to bin it from what would have been a comfortable podium.
This was… disappointing, to say the least. Bagnaia is the reigning champion and came into this round with a healthy championship lead, and has managed to depart it having scored just 4 points in the sprint. The leading light at Ducati was comfortably beaten by a number of his compatriots this weekend, including both Bezzechi and Marquez, and will need to rebound quickly to prove that this isn’t a relapse into his form from early 2022.
So, the podium should be a wrap at this stage, right? Not quite. A fast-charging Zarco had finally gotten temperature in his tires and began scything through the pack in the same way he did in Portimao, and with similar levels of success. The Frenchman took rider after rider, getting to the head of the third gaggle and beginning to hunt down Morbidelli and Marquez ahead. Bezzechi was a stretch too far, but Zarco was able to snatch second place in the end to reinstate himself as an early challenger for the title.
What of the other expected contenders? The Aprilias dropped like stones through the order on Sunday and scored a combined 5 points between the both of them, while Quartararo had his race ruined early by a collision with Nakagami that dropped him to dead last and forced him to make a heroic run of his own through the pack. None of these men will feel particularly comfortable with how their races panned out, and with the extremely physical and unfriendly track at Austin coming up next it could be a rough couple of weeks for the lot of them.
Some final shout-outs from the lower classes: Tony Arbolino looked a rock star on board his Kalex Moto2 bike as he swept through the rain to take his first win of the season and claim the championship lead in the intermediate class. The Italian is riding the crest of a wave – somewhat literally, in this instance – and looks to be every bit as competitive as we thought he would be based on last year’s victories and his strong pre-season. It’s early days yet, but Tiger Tony could certainly be a title contender for the remainder of 2023.
As for the Moto3 race, it was something of a bloodbath. With no consistent practice in rain conditions, the young riders were sent blindly into the unknown for 18 laps and suffered the consequences, with many favourites crashing out in the tricky weather without much warning. Suzuki took his first win in almost two years with an impressive disappearing act at the front, but it’s difficult to say who the real winners were here. For riders like Oncu and Sasaki, however, the 0 on their scorecard for Termas will be something to forget as quickly as possible as they reset ahead of the Austin grand prix.
A well-deserved weekend off awaits the paddock, before we head to the USA to wrestle with the Circuit of the Americas. An intensely physical track with a history of difficult conditions – I’d hate to be the one trying to predict the results of that race ahead of time.
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