the italian pilot Francis Bagnaia (Ducati) will try to take another bite at this start of the MotoGP World Championship season with another full blow at the Argentine Grand Prix, where the Spanish Pedro Acosta (Kalex) and Daniel Holgado (KTM) will defend their respective leads in Moto2 and Moto3.
With no time to digest the busy season opener last weekend in Portimao (Portugal), the grid headed to America where it will contest the next two races, the one at Termas de Río Hondo and, after a week off, the Grand Las Americas Award at the COTA in Austin (United States).
The start of the championship in the premier class confirmed the dominance that Ducati had shown in the preseason, with four “Desmosedici” in the top 5 of the race on Sunday and the double in the first in sprint format. Only Aprilia and Repsol Honda tried to unsuccessfully disturb the Borgo Panigale brand.
The first Sunday was marked by the incident involving Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), who was unable to control his bike and ended up colliding with Jorge Martín (Ducati) and knocking down Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia). The man from Cervera and the Portuguese came off badly and finally will not be able to race in this second round, for which the former had been penalized with a double “Long Lap” which, after an unusual clarification from the FIM, he will have to comply with in the next Grand Prix that he runs and that will be appealed by his team “for not complying with the regulations.”
Neither the eight-time world champion nor the Portuguese will be replaced by their respective teams, as will the other casualties of the Catalan Pol Espargaró (KTM), who suffered a serious accident in the second training session on Friday, and the Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati ), who crashed in the sprint race and damaged his scapula.
With everything, and with the unknown of the weather, which threatens rain, Bagnaia will be the rival to beat after adding the two victories in Portimao, where only pole position resisted him, which was surprisingly for Marc Márquez. The current world champion beat Jorge Martín and the ilerdense man on Saturday in the sprint race, and on Sunday he beat Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) and his compatriot Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati).
“Pecco” was the only one on the podium in both races and left Portugal with the maximum points, 37, and already 12 ahead of Viñales for an Argentine Grand Prix that has historically resisted Ducati, which has never won, neither at Termas de Río Hondo nor on the track that used to house Buenos Aires. Jorge Martín, despite the injuries suffered by the incident in Portugal, was the best Desmosedici on the Argentine circuit in 2022 and is emerging as one of Bagnaia’s threats.
Aprilia arrives more animated to give war to the Ducati, not only because of their good performance in the first round, but because last year they made history with their first MotoGP victory, with Aleix Espargaró, who will want to repeat to dedicate it to his brother Pol.
Before the victory of the Italian brand, Termas de Río Honda had been the preserve of Honda and Yamaha, but the two Japanese factories do not currently seem to be at the level of the red motorcycles. Without Marc Márquez, Joan Mir will have to take full responsibility.
The 2023 Argentine Grand Prix can be seen in Spain through Dazn. The sprint race will take place on Saturday, April 1, starting at 8:00 p.m. On Sunday, April 2, the Moto3 (4:00 p.m.), Moto2 (5:15 p.m.) and MotoGP (7:00 p.m.) races will be held.
