Argentina MotoGP: Second straight clean sweep for Marquez

Termas de Rio Hondo [Argentina], March 17 (ANI): The MotoGP riders took to the track this Sunday afternoon at Termas de Rio Hondo for the finale of the weekend: the YPF Energia Argentina Grand Prix. Once again in control, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) took his second victory of the season ahead of his brother Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who was in second place. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) suffered an illness this Saturday and put in an excellent performance to secure third place, having not finished on the podium since Jerez 2021.
As the lights went out, Alex Marquez was the fastest to react, but the #73 was unable to attack polesitter Marc Marquez, who took the holeshot. Pecco Bagnaia was third, while behind him, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) missed his braking point at the first corner and violently collided with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) before falling. At the start of the GP, Pecco Bagnaia was on the offensive with an attack on Alex Marquez, but the Gresini rider immediately responded. Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) was also very aggressive, putting pressure on the two-time MotoGP World Champion. The two men swapped third place in this race behind the Marquez brothers, who took advantage of this duel to widen their gap.
On the third lap, Franco Morbidelli surprised Johann Zarco and then Pecco Bagnaia to take third place. A few seconds later, Alex Marquez took advantage of a gap from his older rider to take the lead in the Grand Prix. It's hard to say whether, as in Thailand, a tyre pressure problem was the cause of this manoeuvre. 15th on the grid, Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) made an excellent start to the GP and was already in eighth place after six laps. In the top 5 during the two clashes in Buriram, the Japanese confirmed that he has the level to compete at the highest level. On a great day this Sunday, after being ill yesterday, Franco Morbidelli closed the gap on Marc Marquez, who did not let go of his younger brother's wheel. Behind the VR46 rider, Pecco Bagnaia was under pressure from a comfortable Johann Zarco.
Chasing the leader, Marc Marquez attacked hard and lost the rear at Turn 3. The six-time MotoGP World Champion narrowly missed a crash but lost only a tenth of a second in the process and immediately closed in on the Gresini rider. With seven laps remaining, the #93 attempted a first attack but went wide and saw Alex Marquez regain the lead.
Two laps later, the factory Ducati rider repeated the feat and claimed his fourth victory of the season in all races, a success rate of simply 100%. Alex Marquez was once again second, while Franco Morbidelli, who was very solid at the end of the Grand Prix, returned to the Sunday podium, a position he had not enjoyed since the 2021 Spanish GP.
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Once again unable to fight with the leaders, Pecco Bagnaia took the points for fourth place today in Termas. In the final, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) upped the pace to overtake Johann Zarco on the final lap. The VR46 representative took a top-five finish by a hair's breadth ahead of our French rider, who still has reason to be optimistic for the rest of the season. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is seventh ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), while Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) places his Honda in ninth place. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) is 10th. Handicapped by his incident with Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the Grand Prix, Fabio Quartararo is 15th. Eighth at the finish line, Ai Ogura was then disqualified for unapproved software. Also notable was the fall of Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), who had a complicated weekend.
Thanks to this second perfect weekend, Marc Marquez has taken the lead in the World Championship, already 16 points ahead of his younger brother, Alex Marquez. Third-placed Pecco Bagnaia is losing ground to the Gresini rider, who is 15 points behind. (ANI)