The Moto2 class were at the Termos de Rio Honda in Argentina for the second race of the Moto2 season. After rain had hit during Qualifying, they had to overcome a drying track and risk running with slick tyres, to determine grid positions.
Miguel Oliveira achieved a fantastic pole position which was the first with his old team he has returned to when they joined the Moto2 season this year; their first pole position on just the second race.
Dry day after wet Qualifying
It was dry on race day and come the warm-up they were able to return to previous settings developed during previous, dry sessions. Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) was the quickest during the morning session, Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was second quickest and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing Team) was third quickest ahead of the race.
Morbidelli leads into turn one of the Argentinian GP
Oliveira on pole was raring to go, however it was Morbidelli who led into turn one of the race. Oliveira stuck with him and shoved his way past. Morbidelli retaliated and forced Oliveira wide; the Portuguese rider had to settle for second behind the Italian.
Incident at turn one
The 600cc pack never made it through the first turn cleanly, as Nakagami and Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) went down at turn one. Nakagami touched the rear of the bike in front of him which caused him to fall and unfortunately for the Australian, he was swept up by the sliding bike; it was race over for the two of them.
Morbidelli’s teammate, Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) soon made his way behind Morbidelli on track. The Spaniard was all over the back of the Italian as Thomas Luthi (CarXpert Interwetten) chased after passing Oliveira in the opening corners. As they started the second lap, Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) had managed to make his way past Oliveira and heading into turn one he went up the inside of Luthi to claim third.
Pons and Quartararo crash out on lap two
As they made their way through the circuit for the second lap, both Axel pons (RW Racing GP) and Fabio Quartararo (Pons HP40) went down at turn four. The pair tumbled into the gravel and Quartararo looked especially hurt; he suffered an impact to his groin which had him doubled up in pain. Both riders fortunately seemed unhurt otherwise. Pasini then crashed out at turn seven on the same lap. He lost the front end of his bike. He was able to recover his bike and re-join the race.
Teammates egging each other on at the front
Back at the front, Morbidelli and Marquez were pulling away as they pushed each other at the front of the back. Marquez was tucked in close behind his teammate, keen to not let him gain any advantage that would be too hard to recover.
Oliveira had made his way past Luthi again and as they approached the end of the straight on the third lap, Luthi made an attempt to go up the inside of him. He ended up just losing time however and was caught by rookie, Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46). Luthi then found himself under pressure from Baldassarri but was able to recover the positions and continued to chase Oliveira again.
Simeon crashes out at turn 10
Unfortunately for Xavier Simeon (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2), he came off at turn 10 of the track. He went over the kerb as he went through the chicane and when he wobbled on the kerb he lost control. He was slammed down on the ground as was his bike and he hit his head hard. He was able to get back to his feet but was still holding his head (through his helmet) as he was escorted to the safety area.
The battles continue on track
By lap five, Morbidelli was able to slightly break away from his teammate as he continued with a string of fastest laps. Further down the field, Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing) were battling it out for sixth. Hafitzh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) was catching them up in seventh on the track. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) was forced to retire.
On the ninth lap, Syahrin dropped down to eighth as ahead of him, Vierge passed Cortese heading into turn one. Vierge then went wide and ended up dropping back to seventh. Syahrin was able to catch Corsi and in doing so, brought Bagnaia and Luca Marini (Forward Racing Team) with him.
Kent crashes out in Argentina
On the 16th lap, with eight laps remaining, British rider Danny Kent (Kiefer Racing) came off his Suter at turn seven. He appeared unhurt but his crash just added to a difficult start to the 2017 season so far.
The battles become more intense
With seven laps remaining, the battle of sixth heated up as eight riders were pushing to lead the group that followed the leaders. Corsi rode up the inside of Cortese when the German rider made a mistake, but Corsi was defensive and protected his position and remained sixth.
Corsi was all over the back of Cortese as they all took alternative and different lines. As Oliveira caught up to Marquez ahead of them, Corsi was able to overtake Corsi. On the next lap, lap 18, Cortese fought his way back past Corsi, and then on the following lap Corsi again passed Cortese. Later on in the lap, Cortese again passed Corsi to reclaim sixth.
On lap 20, Marquez was closer than ever to Morbidelli. Morbidelli ran out wide but managed to make a late apex. Vierge managed to overtake Corsi to take seventh and then the Italian lost another place to rookie, Bagnaia. Bagnaia then went on to overtake Vierge to claim seventh as behind them injured 2016 Moto3 champion, Brad Binder (Red Bull KM Ajo) overtook Syahrin to claim 10th and Dominique Aegerter (Kiefer Racing) retaliated on the move that Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) had took earlier in the lap.
It was only a matter of time…
Marquez was all over the back of Morbidelli and it was only a matter of time that the Spaniard, who was hungry for his first Moto2 win, would finally make his move. He waited until the end of the main straight on the 21st lap, as they braked heading into turn five he bypassed Morbidelli to take the lead. Morbidelli retaliated a couple of corners later and then ran wide, but instead of passing him, Marquez followed him when he made and recovered from the mistake.
Behind them, Bagnaia passed Cortese to take sixth, and then Cortese lost another place to Corsi who went on to pass Bagnaia. Schrotter passed Marini to take 12th.
Disaster struck for Marquez
They began the final lap of the race and it seemed that Morbidelli had responded to the pressure from his teammate and appeared to break away ever so slightly. The two battling meant that Oliveira was able to catch right up and apply the pressure up until the end of the race. Then disaster struck for Marquez.
As they approached the end of the lap, the rear of Marquez’s Kalex came round and threw him off the bike almost into a high-side. He hit the front of the bike and both of them tumbled into the gravel, Marquez barrel rolled making impact with the tarmac several times. He was able to get up and recover the bike and went on to finish the race but nowhere near where he deserved to.
Morbidelli wins the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina
Morbidelli won his second ever Moto2 race, on the bounce, at the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina. He once again collected full points with his consecutive win. Oliveira benefitted from Marquez’s crash and crossed the line in second just 1.683 seconds behind the Italian winner. Luthi however got a shock result collecting a last minute unexpected podium in third.
Baldassarri was fourth ahead of Vierge who finished in fifth ahead of Corsi in sixth. Bagnaia was the highest placed rookie in seventh ahead of Cortese. Moto2 rookie and 2016 Moto3 champion, Binder, whose arm has re-broke and he will have to undergo surgery on his wrist again after the plate that was recently fitted after a break came loose, finished in an amazing ninth despite the pain he would have been in. Syahrin completed the top 10.
Schrotter was 11th ahead of Marini, Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten), Aegerter and Moto2 rookie, Navarro collected the final championship points in 15th. Just outside the points was Edgar Pons (Pons HP40) in 16th ahead of Isaac Vinales (BE-A-VIP SAG Team), Julian Simon (Garage Plus Interwetten), rookie Tetsuta Nagashima (Teluru SAG Team) and Pasini completed the top 20 after he recovered his bike.
Marquez finishes the race despite his late crash
Marquez picked his bike up and managed to cross the line finishing in 21st. Former MotoGP rider, Yonny Hernandez (AGR Team) was 22nd. Rookies, Stefano Manzi (Sky Racing Team VR46), Khairul Idham Pawi (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Axel Bassini (Speed Up Racing) completed the list of 25 finishers.
When it comes to the championship, Morbidelli is leading with 50 points after his back-to-back wins on the opening two rounds. Luthi is second with 36 points and Oliveira is third with 33 points. Baldassarri, Vierge, Nakagami, Marini, Bagnaia (highest rookie), Marquez, and Corsi complete the top 10.