Lorenzo Baldassarri continued his perfect start to the 2019 Moto2™ World Championship with a calculated ride to claim victory at the Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina.
The Italian eventually took the chequered flag over a second clear of Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), who stood on the podium for the first time in his career, almost 27 years on from dad Wayne’s last podium at the 1992 South African Grand Prix.
Disaster struck before the race even got started for poleman Xavi Vierge after his EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex broke down on the Warm Up lap, leaving an open space in pole position as the race got started. Dynavolt Intact GP’s Marcel Schrötter took the holeshot with Vierge absent but Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Sam Lowes tried his best to take the lead into Turn 1 but got in way too hot, running wide and eventually taking up sixth place.
It didn’t take long for Gardner to hit the front of the race though, with the Australian diving past Schrötter before starting to pull clear. Schrötter, EG 0,0 Marc VDS’ Alex Marquez and Baldassarri didn’t let Gardner check out though and the front four began an almighty scrap.
Meanwhile, on Lap 6 Dynavolt Intact GP’s Tom Lüthi crashed out at Turn 7, unhurt, after clipping the rear wheel of Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder who was in front of him. Britain’s Lowes also crashed out at the same corner on the same lap after tucking the front end with both in the hunt for fifth place.
At the front, Gardner, Schrötter and Marquez all had their turns at leading, with some super aggressive moves been placed on one and other, all while Baldassarri sat and watched from fourth place. Then, with eight laps remaining the Italian started to make his way forward, first moving past Marquez to go into third.
Three laps later, Baldassarri was up to second having slipped past the German who was behind race leader Gardner, with the front three now having broken clear. A lap later, and with four left, Baldassarri made his move for the lead. On the run into Turn 5, the Qatar GP winner squeezed Gardner out, leaving him no room whatsoever and forcing the Aussie to run wide and allowing Baldassarri to hit the front for the first time; firm but fair.
He hung onto the chequered flag and made it 50 points from the opening two rounds of the season, to hold a 17-point championship advantage at this early stage. His nearest title rival is Gardner who battled back from third place to second over the line and move into second place in the championship as a result.
Marquez took the final podium spot after benefiting from a coming together between Schrötter and Binder with two laps remaining. American Racing KTM’s Iker Lecuona took fourth place before Binder and then Schrötter, who were split by a tenth. SKY Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini ended seventh, with Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) in eighth and rookie Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) in ninth. Rounding out the top ten, after a career-best ride, was Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra aboard his Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex.
GRAN PREMIO MOTUL DE LA REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA
Moto2 Race Classification 2019.
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | Flexbox HP 40 | Kalex | 166.7 | 39’46.000 |
| 2 | 20 | 87 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | Kalex | 166.6 | +1.244 |
| 3 | 16 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 166.6 | +1.817 |
| 4 | 13 | 27 | Iker LECUONA | SPA | American Racing KTM | KTM | 166.5 | +2.704 |
| 5 | 11 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 166.4 | +4.839 |
| 6 | 10 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 166.4 | +4.707 |
| 7 | 9 | 10 | Luca MARINI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 166.4 | +4.986 |
| 8 | 8 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Beta Tools Speed Up | Speed Up | 166.2 | +7.459 |
| 9 | 7 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 166.1 | +8.724 |
| 10 | 6 | 35 | Somkiat CHANTRA | THA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 165.7 | +14.506 |
| 11 | 5 | 5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 165.6 | +16.145 |
| 12 | 4 | 45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | JPN | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | Kalex | 165.6 | +16.450 |
| 13 | 3 | 89 | Khairul Idham PAWI | MAL | Petronas Sprinta Racing | Kalex | 165.6 | +16.613 |
| 14 | 2 | 64 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NED | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 165.1 | +23.007 |
| 15 | 1 | 2 | Jesko RAFFIN | SWI | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 165.0 | +24.736 |
| 16 | 72 | Marco BEZZECCHI | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 165.0 | +25.381 | |
| 17 | 96 | Jake DIXON | GBR | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | KTM | 163.9 | +41.684 | |
| 18 | 3 | Lukas TULOVIC | GER | Kiefer Racing | KTM | 163.6 | +45.545 | |
| 19 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | GER | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 163.6 | +45.811 | |
| 20 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward | MV Agusta | 162.8 | +56.934 | |
| 21 | 18 | Xavi CARDELUS | AND | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | KTM | 162.1 | +1’07.765 | |
| 22 | 16 | Joe ROBERTS | USA | American Racing KTM | KTM | 161.4 | +1’18.707 | |
| 23 | 20 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | INA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 135.5 | 4 Laps | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 24 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Kalex | 166.4 | 2 Laps | ||
| 88 | Jorge MARTIN | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 166.0 | 5 Laps | ||
| 11 | Nicolo BULEGA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 162.0 | 5 Laps | ||
| 21 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | ITA | Beta Tools Speed Up | Speed Up | 162.0 | 11 Laps | ||
| 22 | Sam LOWES | GBR | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 165.9 | 18 Laps | ||
| 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 165.8 | 18 Laps | ||
| 62 | Stefano MANZI | ITA | MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward | MV Agusta | 159.3 | 22 Laps | ||
| Not Starting | ||||||||
| 97 | Xavi VIERGE | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 0 Lap | |||
Moto2 World Standing 2019.
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Kalex | ITA | 50 |
| 2 | Remy GARDNER | Kalex | AUS | 33 |
| 3 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Kalex | GER | 27 |
| 4 | Alex MARQUEZ | Kalex | SPA | 25 |
| 5 | Thomas LUTHI | Kalex | SWI | 20 |
| 6 | Luca MARINI | Kalex | ITA | 17 |
| 7 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 14 |
| 8 | Enea BASTIANINI | Kalex | ITA | 14 |
| 9 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | SPA | 13 |
| 10 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Kalex | SPA | 11 |
| 11 | Sam LOWES | Kalex | GBR | 10 |
| 12 | Jorge NAVARRO | Speed Up | SPA | 8 |
| 13 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Kalex | ITA | 8 |
| 14 | Xavi VIERGE | Kalex | SPA | 6 |
| 15 | Somkiat CHANTRA | Kalex | THA | 6 |
| 16 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Speed Up | ITA | 5 |
| 17 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Kalex | JPN | 4 |
| 18 | Khairul Idham PAWI | Kalex | MAL | 3 |
| 19 | Jesko RAFFIN | NTS | SWI | 3 |
| 20 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS | NED | 2 |
| 21 | Jorge MARTIN | KTM | SPA | 1 |
| 22 | Marco BEZZECCHI | KTM | ITA | |
| 23 | Jake DIXON | KTM | GBR | |
| 24 | Dominique AEGERTER | MV Agusta | SWI | |
| 25 | Lukas TULOVIC | KTM | GER | |
| 26 | Philipp OETTL | KTM | GER | |
| 27 | Simone CORSI | Kalex | ITA | |
| 28 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta | ITA | |
| 29 | Xavi CARDELUS | KTM | AND | |
| 30 | Joe ROBERTS | KTM | USA | |
| 31 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | Kalex | INA | |
| 32 | Nicolo BULEGA | ITA |
Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com
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