Moto3 Argentina: Debut victory for Bezzecchi, tyre gamble for Martin
Marco Bezzecchi picked up his first Moto3 win in style as he dominated the Grand Prix in Argentina, with his wet weather tyre choice giving him the advantage.
The Redux PruestelGP rider, another VR46 academy success story, started from second on the grid and held his concentration around the damp track, pulling out over a seven second lead at one point, crossing the line 4.6s ahead as he eased over the line.
The Italian’s win is the first KTM victory in 14 races, ending Honda’s dominance of the lightweight class.
Aron Canet now leads the championship standings after battling Fabio Di Giannantonio for second, with a total of 40 after two second places this season. The Spaniard benefited from Jorge Martin’s decision after the warm-up lap to pull into the pits and change to slick tyres.
Though Martin, who won the season opener in Qatar, reduced his gap to first place to 25 seconds over the course of the race, he was never going to be able to fight for the podium as his strategy left him with too much to do, his eleventh brought valuable points but handed his Estrella Galicia Honda rival with the upper hand in the overall standings.
Gresini’s Di Giannantonio decided to settle for third rather than fall as grip lessened and the moves became tougher, as he was clear of fourth place Enea Bastianini for Leopard.
The Italian also enjoyed a gap back to Adam Norrodin, who has impressed in the wet conditions of the weekend as he held on to fifth, his best result to date with Petronas Sprinta Racing.
Alonso Lopez, the youngest rider in the paddock, showed maturity as he raced his way up to sixth, the Estrella Galicia rider was top rookie across the line with his best result.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) did not quite have what it takes to reach the podium for the second race in a row but fought bravely with Lopez and Nico Antonelli to the line for seventh, with the Sic58 Squadra Corse man eighth.
Local rider Gabriel Rodrigo saw his hopes of a win on home soil fade over the first few laps, but still came home in the points for RBA BOE Skull Rider in ninth, polesitter Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers), who also gambled by staring on the grid on slicks worked his way up to a top ten finish as the track dried slower than expected.
Martin took eleventh, after passing Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) into twelfth, Andrea Migno (Angel Nieto Team) finished 13th, birthday boy Jakub Kornfeil, who took the chequered flag 14th on the second Redox PruestelGP entry and Livio Lo,i who claimed the final point for Reale Avintia Academy.
Contact in the shuffle for the lower places saw John McPhee drop to 17th for CIP Green Power after working his way up from his qualifying spot of 22nd.
Tatsuki Suzuki and Makar Yurchenko fell on the first lap, Suzuki rejoined while the CIP rider chose to enter the pits and switch to dry tyres, neithermade an impact on their return to track.
Nicolo Bulega ended his weekend by pitting with five laps remaining after his tyre change also failed to pay off. Kaito Toba left Darryn Binder nowhere to go a lap later ending the South African’s day, with Albert Arenas suffering a similar fate moments later.
Dennis Foggia completed a terrible outing for the Sky Racing VR46 Team as he crashed out of contention at the start of the penultimate lap, with Jaume Masia trying to fit his bike where it could not fit and clipping the back of Di Giannantonio sending him into the gravel on the same lap.
