MotoGP™ – Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) creates history in Argentina.

As one Pramac Racing Ducati set the fastest lap of the race, the other crashed out at Turn 2. Martin edged out a 0.4s gap to Aleix Espargaro in the chase for victory, while Zarco tucked the front on Lap 7. Martin and Aleix Espargaro had two seconds to Rins and Pol Espargaro, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was now P5 ahead of Marini, who in turn had Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), Bagnaia and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) for close company.

Lap 10 of 25 saw Aleix Espargaro run wide at Turn 1, losing 0.4s, and then the Aprilia man ran wide at Turn 5 – two mistakes in five corners cost the Spaniard 0.9s and now, Rins was just a second in arrears. Martin’s lead, with 15 laps to go, was up to just over a second. The response from Aleix Espargaro? The fastest lap of the Grand Prix – a 1:39.375, 0.4s quicker than Martin.

With 11 laps to go, while running P4, Pol Espargaro crashed out unhurt at Turn 2. That promoted Mir to P4, but the 2020 World Champion had two seconds to bridge if he wanted to fight his teammate Rins for the final podium spot. Aleix Espargaro had regrouped and was now back to where he was before the double error – 0.3s behind Martin’s bellowing GP22.

The first hint of a move came with eight laps to go. Aleix Esaprgaro moved out the slipstream and was ahead, but it was only briefly. Hard on the anchors, Espargaro couldn’t get his RS-GP stopped at the apex and Martin was back through. This was compelling. Rins was not out of this either, the Suzuki man was just 1.3s off the leading duo with seven laps left.

Martin had no answer in the end for Espargaro but second place is crucial to kickstart his World Championship after two DNFs in Qatar and Indonesia, as Rins completed the podium for his first visit to the rostrum in 2022.

In the end, Mir was only 0.5s away from teammate Rins and a podium finish, but it’s a solid result for the Suzuki rider. Pecco’s P5 was a fantastic comeback ride after failing to make it out of Q2, the Italian finished ahead of Brad Binder and Viñales in the battle for the top five. Quartararo took a lonely P8 in a tricky race for the Frenchman, as El Diablo ended the day 2.4s ahead of star rookie Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – the Italian beats compatriots Bastianini and Marini to bag a tremendous P9. Bastianini relinquishes the Championship lead with a P10, a mistake at Turn 5 cost ‘The Beast’ a shot at a better result, with Marini slipping down the order from half race distance.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) fended off Oliveira in P12 and P13 respectively, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) couldn’t make progress on Sunday afternoon and picked up a lowly P14, while Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) claimed the final point in P15.

We had to wait a little longer than anticipated, but Argentina delivered. Aprilia and Aleix Espargaro head to the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas as World Championship leaders after a wonderful weekend, as 2022 has now seen nine different podium finishers in the opening three races. Astonishing.

COTA, the stage is yours.

Top 10:
1. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing)
2. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 0.807
3. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 1.330
4. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 1.831
5. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 5.840
6. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 6.192
7. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 6.540
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 10.215
9. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 12.622
10. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 12.987.

Gran Premio michelin® de la república Argentina.

MotoGP™ RAC Classification 2022.

1	25	41 Aleix Espargaro	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	173.2	41’36.1980
2	20	89 Jorge Martin	ES	Pramac Racing	Ducati	173.2	+0.807
3	16	42 Alex Rins	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	173.1	+1.33
4	13	36 Joan Mir	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	173.1	+1.831
5	11	63 Francesco Bagnaia	IT	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	172.8	+5.84
6	10	33 Brad Binder	ZA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	172.8	+6.192
7	9	12 Maverick Viñales	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	172.8	+6.54
8	8	20 Fabio Quartararo	FR	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	172.5	+10.215
9	7	72 Marco Bezzecchi	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	172.4	+12.622
10	6	23 Enea Bastianini	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	172.3	+12.987
11	5	10 Luca Marini	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	172.3	+13.962
12	4	30 Takaaki Nakagami	JP	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	172.3	+14.002
13	3	88 Miguel Oliveira	PT	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	172.2	+14.456
14	2	43 Jack Miller	AU	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	172.2	+14.898
15	1	73 Alex Marquez	ES	LCR Honda Castrol	Honda	171.6	+23.472
16		25 Raul Fernandez	ES	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	171.5	+25.862
17		87 Remy Gardner	AU	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	171.3	+28.711
18		40 Darryn Binder	ZA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	171.3	+28.784
19		6 Stefan Bradl	DE	Honda HRC	Honda	171	+31.943
20		4 Andrea Dovizioso	IT	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	147.6	42’57.6400

Non-classified riders

		21 Franco Morbidelli	IT	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	163.4	7 Laps
		44 Pol Espargaro	ES	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	172.8	14 Laps
		5 Johann Zarco	FR	Pramac Racing	Ducati	170.6	5 Laps
		49 Fabio Di Giannantonio	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	171.2	22 Laps

MotoGP™ Championship 2022

1	41 Aleix Espargaro	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	45
2	33 Brad Binder	ZA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	38
3	23 Enea Bastianini	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	36
4	42 Alex Rins	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	36
5	20 Fabio Quartararo	FR	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	35
6	36 Joan Mir	ES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	33
7	88 Miguel Oliveira	PT	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	28
8	5 Johann Zarco	FR	Pramac Racing	Ducati	24
9	89 Jorge Martin	ES	Pramac Racing	Ducati	20
10	44 Pol Espargaro	ES	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	20
11	43 Jack Miller	AU	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	15
12	21 Franco Morbidelli	IT	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™	Yamaha	14
13	12 Maverick Viñales	ES	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	13
14	63 Francesco Bagnaia	IT	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	12
15	93 Marc Marquez	ES	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	11
16	30 Takaaki Nakagami	JP	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	10
17	10 Luca Marini	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	10
18	72 Marco Bezzecchi	IT	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	7
19	40 Darryn Binder	ZA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	6
20	73 Alex Marquez	ES	LCR Honda Castrol	Honda	4
21	4 Andrea Dovizioso	IT	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team	Yamaha	2
22	87 Remy Gardner	AU	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1
23	25 Raul Fernandez	ES	Tech3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	0
24	49 Fabio Di Giannantonio	IT	Gresini Racing MotoGP™	Ducati	0
25	6 Stefan Bradl	DE	Honda HRC	Honda	0