Vinales untouchable at start of Argentinian GP

Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) topped the Free Practice sessions as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was close behind in second.

Following on behind them were a number of Ducati riders, which included Karel Abraham (Pull & Bear Aspar Team), Alvaro Bautista (Pull & Bear Aspar Team), Danilo Petrucci (OCTO Pramac Ducati) and Loris Baz (Reale Avinta Racing).

As that was your top five, the lower end of the time sheets included Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who was in 16th, and Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) in 18th.

The sun lit up the track for Free Practice One

With unpredictable conditions looming over the Termas De Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina, the Moto GP riders set out for Free Practice One. The sun was beginning to warm up the track at the start of the session ready for them to put in some laps for the race on Sunday.

It was a slow start as the tyres took time to warm to a rather cool track. It was the reigning world champion, Marquez, who set the marker with 1:43.978. But it was short lived, as Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was quick to take over with 1:43.459.

Vinales had a lucky escape at turn 13

Baz suffered the first misfortune as he had a mechanical issue at turn 10 as he pushed his bike off the side of the track. Whilst one disaster struck, Marquez struck the second as he went in too hot at turn five and ended up on the kerb. This gave the opportunity for Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Team) to storm around the field to be one of the first riders to reach into the 1:41’s. As Crutchlow continued to gain speed, Marquez and rival Vinales continued to gain composure.

It wasn’t long before last round’s winner, Vinales, leaped into the top spot with 1:41.469. His pace was quickly altered however, as he had a moment between turns 13 and 14 where we then saw him holding his left wrist after making a jolting movement. He headed straight off into the pits with 29 minutes left of the session, to which it was later confirmed his airbag had gone off.

The Tech 3 boys Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) then slipped up into second and third around 0.084 of a second off of Vinales’ leading time.

Marquez found the limit with a fall

With 22 minutes to go Marquez went down at turn 2 after losing the front. He was able to get up comfortably and run off without any issues and take a lift back to the pits. With Marquez now recovering, Vinales was now back on track to make up for lost time. All eyes were already on Zarco who was continuing to find the limit, and ended up overtaking Vinales with a time of 1:41.258. But Vinales snapped straight back with 1:40.796.

After taking the lead at the beginning of the session, Miller popped up in the time sheets again with five minutes to go going second with 1:40.867. But with just a few minutes left, we had entered the final minutes panic and a lot of the riders were on quick laps. Rather than a battle for the top, it was more a battle for the top five as Vinales was almost untouchable. As Marquez sunk into 11th position due to earlier problems, it was between Zarco, Folger, Petrucci and Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar).

The sun continued to shine for Free Practice Two

With still no sign of any bad weather, Free Practice Two began. There was no hesitation from any of the riders as they shot out of the pit lane to take to the track.

A Ducati was first to go to the top, under the control of Scott Redding (OCTO Pramac Ducati), who put in a time of 1:41.275. However, this was quickly scuppered by a number of Hondas which included Marquez, Miller and Crutchlow.

After taking a tow around track from Petrucci, Alvaro Bautista (Pull & Bear Aspar Team) was next to go to the top with 1:40.968. But Marquez was also getting a tow from Lorenzo, and managed to regain the top spot with 1:40.670.

With some Hondas, including Marquez and Crutchlow, running a hard front and medium rear tyre, this seemed to be more beneficial for them. As Vinales was running a hard front and hard rear, it appeared to take a while longer for the tyres to kick in and he was able to go second with half an hour left of the session.

As half of the field disappeared off into the pits, Marquez soon reappeared with hard tyres on both the front and back. Whilst he built up speed, Rossi put himself into ninth position.

There were crashes from Bradley Smith and Dani Pedrosa

Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) then had an unfortunate off at turn 1 with 16 minutes left, just as Marquez went into first with 1:40.246. The crashes didn’t stop as almost immediately after Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) fell at turn 13 as he lost the front, and the rear soon followed, sending him into an elegant spin. He was unharmed and was able to return to the pits.

As Rossi sunk down into 14th, he returned to the pits along with a good majority of the other riders. Now with only 11 minutes to go, it was clear they were gearing themselves up ready for that final sprint at the end as serious discussions filled the pit lane.

With six minutes to go the sound of engines re-filled the circuit with a number of tyre changes including Marquez and Rossi who both appeared on hard front and soft rear. Vinales also made a change with a medium front and soft rear.

A mixture of different teams filled the top 10

Crutchlow was another Honda to choose the hard front and soft rear and shot to the top with 1:40.124. A string of bikes then came across the line shortly after seeing Abraham go fastest with 1:39.880. This was short-lived as Marquez was quick to change this putting in a time of 1:39.778.

With the final few minutes left, it was all go with the riders doing their best laps. Vinales took back first place with 1:39.477, with his team mate Rossi only able to grab 16th.