More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

15th to 1st?! Binder sends it on Saturday to take stunning Tissot Sprint win

The KTM rider wins an true epic, holding off Bezzecchi by hundredths as Marini completes the podium

Sunday, 02 April 2023

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). That’s it, that’s the sentence. The South African produced a stunning performance to win the Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina Tissot Sprint from P15 on the grid, slicing through early on and then hanging on ahead of a charging Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) on the final lap… by just 0.072s. Luca Marini made it a Mooney VR46 Racing Team double podium with a hard-fought P3.

It was a fast and ferocious start as Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) got a phenomenal launch to briefly lead into the first corner, but it was polesitter Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) who grabbed P1 early doors as the Italian ran wide. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) got shuffled down the pack on Lap 1, the Championship leader in P7 from the front row as Binder picked his way through the pack like a knife through butter – the South African was P4 on Lap 1 from 15th on the grid!

It was breathless. Morbidelli was the new leader halfway around Lap 1 and led until Binder got the better of him on Lap 3. The top nine raced line astern: Binder, Morbidelli, Marini, Alex Marquez, Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing teammate Maverick Viñales and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) were split by 1.6s with seven laps to go.

Where do you look? Passes galore! Binder, Morbidelli and Marini became a stable top three for a few laps as a fierce battle raged 0.5s behind. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) was getting into the mix too, clinging onto the back of Martin to make it a 10-rider lead group as we entered the final five laps.

With four to go, Binder’s lead was up to 0.5s as Marini swarmed all over the back of second-placed Morbidelli. The former made a move stick at Turn 9 before we saw a little drama and Aleix Espargaro slid out unhurt, the 2022 winner looking for more on Sunday. Bezzecchi then followed teammate Marini through on Morbidelli. Moments later, the number 72 also dispatched Marini and then locked his radar on Binder, who was now 0.7s up the road.

Last lap time. The gap was down to 0.4s between Binder and Bezzecchi, with Marini 0.3s shy of his teammate’s rear wheel in P3. Binder held firm through sectors 1, 2 and 3, but Bezzecchi was eyeing up a final complex move – and he was closing. Binder defended well though and there was no way through at Termas’ famous penultimate corner for Bezzecchi, who was forced to follow the KTM home as Binder won the second-ever Tissot Sprint. From 15th on the grid! It was an unreal effort from the KTM stalwart as the Mooney VR46 duo finish a brilliant P2 and P3.

Morbidelli held onto P4 and one of his best results for some time, fending off Alex Marquez, Bagnaia and Viñales. Martin pipped Quartararo for P8 as the latter picked up the final Sprint point in P9. The points scorers were split by just 3.8s in a truly epic 12-lap dash.

After a Lap 1 crash, Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) is to be reviewed tomorrow morning before Warm Up.

The Sprint delivered. Binder delivered. Now the Grand Prix race awaits at 14:00 local time (GMT-3) on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say: don’t miss it!

QUOTES: TOP 3

BRAD BINDER: “Yeah today was a bit of a surprise for sure, not only for me but also for my team. I knew my starts have been really good from Portimao already. I got a great launch of the line, and yeah. I pushed really hard in the first three corners to try and make up as much time as possible, and when I saw I was in 3rd or 4th place I kind of had to shake my head a bit and make sure it was real. Super happy with the way things went, my team completely turned my bike around for today. I felt so much more comfortable, I had way more grip so I cannot thank my guys enough for the effort they’ve put in. Tomorrow we’re going to keep fighting and try to do the same again. Anyway, I’m super happy to have won again, it’s been a while. It was a bit unexpected for me I suppose!”

How about that last lap?

“I saw +0.5 on my board, so I was pretty chill going into the last lap. But at the end of the back straight I heard a bike right next to me, so I was like shit I’m going to have to block. I just tried to do the shortest way around the whole last lap so then if they had to get past it would have to be a big move. But yeah when I crossed the line I was stoked. Like I said, I definitely couldn’t imagine it happening today, not from 15h for sure. Unreal, thanks so much to my team.”

MARCO BEZZECCHI: “It was a fantastic sprint for me! The start wasn’t the best, but anyway I was managing to stay in the top positions. I was behind Luca (Marini), and in turn 5 everyone braked so deep and I also braked deep but a little bit less compared to the others so as soon I got into the corner my head was already down, this is why I touched a little bit with Luca. Fortunately, everything went well because if not Uccio and Vale would probably kill me. Then I could recover many places because also in the battle with Maverick, we lost a bit of time, but anyway I was fast so I managed to come back. Yeah, it was very fun!”

Did you think you’d pass Brad and does this give you confidence going forward?

“Well, Brad was very good on the last lap, he’s a hard braker everyone knows this. I caught him very closely in Turn 7 but you know I was missing half a lap and he protected very well so for me it was difficult to make more than this. Anyway, I am happy because I tried to stay as close as I could. But yeah it was important the pace for today. For tomorrow, it will be different because the tyre consumption will be more. Anyway, for the moment I enjoyed it and that’s it.”

LUCA MARINI: “It was an especially great start, I think. Now in this MotoGP, especially in the Sprint, you must start in front and start well, so I was fully focused on that side because then it’s very difficult to overtake and everybody has a fantastic pace. So I’m satisfied and really happy about this result because after Portimao weekend it was not easy, it was a nightmare and to be here now with this great result is fantastic. But it will be even more difficult for tomorrow because I don’t think I have the pace to fight for the podium tomorrow. It will be difficult, but I will try to make another good start and we will see.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Crash, fire… pole?! Alex Marquez denies Bezzecchi to take first MotoGP™ pole position

AM73 thunders from Q1 to pole, edging out Bezzecchi as Bagnaia completes the front row at a damp Termas de Rio Hondo

Saturday, 01 April 2023

After a barnstormer in Portugal, qualifying at the Gran Premio Michelin® de la Republica Argentina kept the adrenaline coming! This time with a damp track to contend with, it still went down to the wire and it’s Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) who takes his first premier class pole position! From a crash in Q1, a fire affecting his first bike and then a gamble on slicks with wet settings, it all came together for the number 73 in Q2 as his final push just denied Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team). Reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) made late gains to lock out the front row.

Here’s how it happened:

Q1

There were plenty of eyes on Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) as one of the biggest names in the session after a tough Friday, and the Frenchman delivered. He didn’t top the session, however, that honour went to Alex Marquez – and he was also a key protagonist for quite different reasons, well before his Q2 heroics.

After a slow-ish crash for the number 73, when the camera cut back to the slow-moving Ducati a little later, the machine was on fire. He pulled over and marshals were quick on the scene to extinguish the blaze, but as the fastest in the session he then had to reset and take to his second bike to head out into Q2. And lower his heart rate a little.

Some notable, unexpected struggles for two of the most proven riders in tougher conditions leave Brad Binder and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Jack Miller down in P16 and P17, respectively, and 2020 MotoGP™ Champion Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) was eighth of the eight riders in the session. They’ll be looking for some serious gains in both the Tissot Sprint and the Grand Prix race.

Q2

The track remained damp as the field headed out for Q2, with 12 riders ready for the battle for pole. After some first runs that saw the field split across some scrappier margins than usually seen in the close competition of MotoGP™, the final five minutes then saw the timing screens light up again.

Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) was top as the rest took aim at his laptime, and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) came close but the first to topple the Frenchman was Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™). He shot to provisional with a stunning margin in hand of more than eight tenths, but still it wasn’t done.

The next mover was Alex Marquez. He was back in business and took over in second, cutting the gap to Morbidelli down to two and a half tenths. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) went for it next, also getting ahead of Zarco but slotting into a provisional third place.

With seconds left on the clock, all eyes were left on two riders: Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez. Bezzecchi was on an absolute stormer, and as the Italian crossed the line the gap he had on provisional pole looked more likely a mistake than the truth. But it was both true and a stunning lap as the VR46 academy rider moved the goalposts by a whopping 1.929 seconds.

Getting close to record margins on provisional pole still wasn’t enough for Bezzecchi to take it, however. Alex Marquez thundered round the last few corners with those red sectors still very much showing up, and as he crossed the line that was it: his first premier class pole position, from crash to fire to fastest in the world in the space of only a few minutes.

Bezzecchi takes second ahead of reigning Champion Bagnaia, who was also a late improver, with Morbidelli heading up Row 2. Viñales starts fifth, with Zarco shuffled down to sixth by the end of the session.

Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Aleix Espargaro complete Row 2, ahead of Quartararo as he faces another two showdowns from a tougher grid position. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) completed the Q2 runners!

After that rollercoaster qualifying, we’re certainly set up with an intriguing grid for this weekend – and the lights will go out for the first time later today. Don’t miss the Sprint at 15:00!

QUOTES

ALEX MARQUEZ: “I’m super happy. Q1 was so difficult with the wet tyres and I wasn’t convinced to be on dry, it was too wet, I made a mistake at the last corner but one when I was trying to overtake Mir and in that moment, woah… I was coming really fast, maybe I don’t go to Q2. But fortunately I did it.

“I had a problem with the bike with the fire, so it wasn’t easy when you’re in Q2 and have these conditions and just one bike! I did my best with the wet tyres, later on I went in and I said there’s no time to change the tyres! But we changed the tyres, we put the slicks in with the wet set up and it was working so I’m really happy for that. I’m looking forward to the Sprint and the race!”

MARCO BEZZECCHI: “Honestly the first lap was not very fun because the first part of the track was very wet, but I saw a small possibility and I said ‘ok, I’ll try’. Unfortunately I had an issue in the pitlane with Taka and we lost some time to change the bike, so I took the chequered flag very early but anyway with these conditions to be so fast it’s always nice, so I’m very happy.”

FRANCESCO BAGNAIA: “I was a bit scared to change to the slick tyres considering the amount of wet patches on the track, it was a bit risky. On the last lap I took a lot of risk on entry to corner 2 but in any case I’m very happy. The objective was to start on the front row, we did it so I’m happy. Let’s continue focusing on the race and if conditions are like this it could be very tricky!”