Conditions were perfect at the Termas de Rio Hondo as the Moto3 class opening proceedings ahead of the second round of the season.
The 250cc class were first to take to the dirty and greasy track for Free Practice 1, before the other two classes followed and they then completed Free Practice 2 after a short break.
As the main contenders from the 2016 have been taken out of the mix, as they have been promoted to the next class, it was the perfect opportunity for the riders to prepare in ensuring their name; topped the timesheets, made up the front row of the grid, and completed the podium.
Moto3 class first to take to a dirty track
With the air temperature measuring 23 degrees Celsius with they cleaned up the dirt, laid some rubber and familiarised themselves with the track. Lap times were quite far off the pace from the previous years however as the time needed to be spent clearing a decent race line.
Continuing with his race winning form, it was Joan Mir on the Leopard Racing Honda that took an early lead setting the fastest time during Free Practice 1. His time of 1:51.559 meant he had a 0.2 second advantage over the rest of the pack.
Rodrigo declared fit to race after breaking his collarbone in Qatar
Returning to race, as he had been declared fit to do so after breaking his collarbone during Free Practice in Qatar, Gabriel Rodrigo was second quickest on his RBA BOE Racing Team KTM. After undergoing successful surgery, he proved how tough he was finishing with a time of 1:51.768.
Sky Racing Team VR46 rider, Nicolo Bulega, was the third quickest sandwiching himself between Rodrigo and his teammate Juanfran Guevara who was fourth. Returning to the Moto3 class after being sacked by his former team, Sky Racing Team VR46 for continued bad behaviour, Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers) was the fifth quickest by the end of Free Practice 1.
Ten riders within one second of the leader
Livio Loi (Leopard Racing), 2016 Moto3 championship runner up, Enea Bastianini (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46), Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and John McPhee, who is riding for the new British Talent Team on a factory Honda, completed the top 10 at the end of the opening practice session. Jakub Kornfeil (Peugeot MC Saxoprint) was the quickest Mahindra rider in 11th, and his time meant that 10 riders finished within a second of session leader, Mir.
Quiet second session in Argentina
The second Free Practice session for the 250cc class was another opportunity to confirm the work completed earlier on in the day. It was quite a quiet session as the riders set about reducing their time, and trying to get closer to the times set in years previous.
It took another 30 minutes before anyone was able to break through the 1:51 minute barrier; the circuit lap record and the best ever lap times were set by Miguel Oliveira in 2015 which are 1:48.977 and 1:48.461 respectively. McPhee was able to claim the top spot from Fenati when he lapped at 1:50.940 with 14 minutes of the session remaining.
For the Scotsman, who has been given a fantastic opportunity to contend for the championship, as he fronts the British Talent Team who will be used as an incentive for young riders competing in the new British Talent Cup sponsored by Dorna, he was able to take advantage of the perfect opportunity to complete a fast lap before the traffic accumulated.
The action came in the closing stages
The weather had started to change, as clouds rolled in meaning that the track and air temperatures cooled. However it did not stop the riders from pushing, but the surge did not take place until the very late stages of the second session.
With five minutes of the session remaining, Red Bull KTM Ajo rider, Bo Bendsneyder was forced to go wide and ran onto the slippery painted areas as they began to push for the final time of the day; he was able to prevent a crash and immediately returned to continue with proceedings.
Fenati was first to improve on McPhee's time before Mir knocked him down even further. His form continued as his next lap meant he was able to improve on his own time by over a third of second. He continued to improve, reducing his time from 1:50.686 to 1:50.247 (-0.438 seconds) despite having to overtake two riders in one corner to ensure his efforts weren't spoiled.
The riders were split into groups, using each other to collect a good tow as they stayed in each others slipstreams on the various straights on the track. At one point Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) and Bulega battled on track, almost coming together.
Mir remains quickest man after day one, leading by over half a second
The flag went out and only personal bests looked possible as no-one was near the time set by Mir. The Spanish rider was able to continue his domination from earlier on in the day finishing with a fastest time of 1:50.248, which although it was still a long way off the record pace, it was a significant improvement and was enough to leave him over half a second ahead of the field.
Fenati finished the second day in second with a time of 1:50.812 which lagged Mir's time by 0.564 seconds. Finishing 0.119 seconds behind him in third was Fenati's former teammate, Bulega as the fastest KTM at the end of day one. McPhee ended up fourth as the last of four riders who were able to lap below 1:51 minutes.
Fifth quickest at the end of the opening day of the Argentina GP was Niccolo Antonelli (Red Bull KTM Ajo), sixth was Guevara, ahead of Darryn Binder (Platinum Bay Real Estate), Canet, Loi and Bastianini who completed the top 10. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) was 11th ahead of Jorge Martin who was 12th quickest at the end of the day with Del Conca Gresini Moto3.
Toba tops the Moto3 rookies
The quickest rookie of the day, Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) was 13th quickest with a time of 1:51.444 which was 1.196 seconds slower than leader Mir. Migno followed him on the timesheets ahead of Adam Norrodin (SIC Racing Team) in 15th.
Di Giannantonio, Bendsneyder were 16th and 17th ahead of Philipp Oettl (Sudmetall Schedl GP Racing) in 18th. Rookie, Ayumu Sasaki (SIC Racing Team) was 19th ahead of the only female in the class, Maria Herrera who his now riding for the AGR Team.
Marcos Ramirez (Platinum Bay Real Estate), Kornfeil, Jules Danilo (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers) followed ahead of Aspar Mahindra Moto3 teammates Albert Arenas and Lorenzo Dalla Porta in 25th.
Rookies Tony Arbolino (SIC 58 Squadra Corse), Manuel Pagliani (CIP), Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda Team Asia), Marco Bezzechi (CIP) and Patrick Pulkkinen (Peugeot MC Saxoprint) completed the timesheets made up of 31 riders. The day clearly took its toll on Rodrigo who ended up down in 30th. The injured rider was the only one unable to improve during the second Free Practice session.
For the Moto3 class, the times obtained from day one could prove to be vital as the weather is set to take a turn for the worse on the second day of proceedings. As in Qatar, the lap times from Free Practice 2, if it should rain during Free Practice 3 and Qualifying, would prove to be quickest and therefore would be used to determine the grid positions.