What a battle the Moto3 race turned out again to be as the 250cc class completed the second round of the Moto3 season at the Termos de Rio Hondo in Argentina. Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) came from 10th in the pack initially to take a fantastic win after a long, hard battle with John McPhee (British Talent Team) and Jorge Martin (Pull & Bear Aspar Team) who joined him on the podium, once again.
Crash from Di Giannantonio split the large group up
What initially was a large group fighting for the podium positions soon became a group of five as Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) nudged the back of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) with nine laps remaining that meant the lead group including Mir, Martin, McPhee, Philipp Oettl (Sudmetall Schedl GP Racing) and Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46).
Migno appeared to slightly fall off the back of the group, but remained in contact, as the other four continued to battle up front. It was amazing to see as they each took turns in taking the lead in the claps that remained, as they had done throughout the race, using the end of the straights to gain a tow as they sat in the slipstream, but they out-braked into the turn taking various alternative lines.
Mir, McPhee and Martin repeat the Qatar podium in Argentina
Mir appeared to have this extra determination as he looked incredibly strong on track, as did the others. With three laps remaining it was three-a-breast into the first turn with Mir just having the slightest edge over Oettl and McPhee to retain his lead.
As the race came to a close, Mir appeared to be under slightly less pressure as he managed to break away ever so slightly whilst the others battled behind him. McPhee was desperate to win and took on Oettl, but Martin still wasn’t finished either. It ended up, Mir crossed the line first, 0.261 seconds ahead of McPhee who was 0.72 seconds ahead of Martin in third.
Fantastic race for Mir who started down in 16th on the grid
It was a fantastic achievement for Mir who collected his second consecutive, back-to-back win at the second round of the season. What a performance from the Spaniard who found himself down in 10th with a whole lot of competition ahead of him, after qualifying just 16th on the grid.
Mir felt it was an “incredible race” that he found hard “especially in the start” but then once he “arrived in the front group” he found he had to “manage it the best way”. Although he knows they have “started the championship great” he is aware and remains humble by the fact it is “just the second race” and the thought that “everything can change in an instant”; and so he said, “We must keep out feet on the ground.”
Being honest he said, “In truth I did not think I could win this race” because he “started so far back”; his plan was to try to “stay calm”. He found the Argentinian round to be “a totally different race from Qatar” however he was still left feeling “very happy” and went on to “thank the whole team”.
McPhee appeared frustrated with second in Argentina
At the end of the race, Scottish rider, McPhee looked incredibly frustrated with his result. Of course, all riders want to win, and it shown on his face. McPhee is aware he has been given a fantastic opportunity as he is on the factory Honda with the British Talent Team who are sponsored by Dorna and made up of a whole host of big names that know what they are doing, and McPhee is keen to get back on that top step of the podium as a result.
Afterwards McPhee said it was “definitely an exciting race” and went on to say “well done to Joan (Mir) because he rode a fantastic race the whole way through and set the pace”. McPhee admitted he was surprised as he “didn’t expect the pace to be that fast all the way through” and he knew that it was Mir who “was the one doing the hard work”.
McPhee spoke of how he “knew [he] had the advantage on the brakes” and so he explained how he “tried to line it up thinking maybe [he] could get a fast run in on him” in order to “do a block pass in the final turn”. However, he found that Mir “braked so late” and that he “went in a bit hot” and so both of them “went a little bit wide”; he felt he was “lucky to stay on”.
Still, McPhee said that it was “good to get more points on the board”. He admitted he was “a bit frustrated not to get the win” but he reassured himself saying, “It’s a long season and we’ve got some really good points.”
Martin feels they achieved their best result
Martin was once again fantastic; the happy and smiling Spaniard again looked strong and competitive, and was able to put up a great fight as he worked to secure a podium for the second time at the second round of the season.
Martin exclaimed that they “did a great job during the weekend” as they “knew [they] were a little bit behind in the beginning”. He admitted that they were “struggling a bit under braking” whereas on comparison with Mir and McPhee he found them to be “very strong”.
Looking at things “realistically” he felt that third was their “best possible result”. He optimistically feels that they are “very close to have everything it takes for the win” however for now he was happy to “take these precious 16 points home”. He knows that, “With all these races and so many podium contenders, consistency is the key” to success in the Moto3 class.