Bezzecchi keeps Rossi alive in Moto GP

The same year that Valentino Rossi retired as a Moto GP rider, in 2021, his brother (Luca Marini) stepped up to the top class with a Ducati bearing the VR46 logo. It was another way to uphold his immense legacy in a championship that is still painted yellow at many tracks. Last year, the VR46 Racing team officially debuted in the main displacement, with his close friend Uccio Salucci as race boss (Rossi now competes in cars and barely sets foot in the moto GP paddock) and Pablo Nieto as box boss. Along with Marini, a rookie who already made a lot of noise in his first year, Marco Bezzecchi, came to the pits, and now, in his second season in Moto GP, he brought the Il Dottore team their first victory in the premier class. .

Unquestionable victory. Leading the race from start to finish in very complicated conditions, with a completely flooded track that forced us to be very careful and punish every mistake. Bezzecchi started second on the grid and took the lead from the first corner. From there, he set an impossible pace for his rivals and managed to increase the gap of seven seconds to his pursuers in the middle of the race. This allowed him to relax in the last few laps, but also mentally manage a new situation for him. “It was the longest race of my life. The first ones went by quickly, but the last ten occupied me forever. To stay focused, I talked to the engine and told it that we will win.”

canchera celebration

Bezzecchi put the Argentinian fans in his pocket by celebrating the victory on the podium wearing an albiceleste shirt, with Messi’s ten. Just as his mentor Valentino Rossi did eight years ago on this same track, although in his case he did it with Maradona’s ten.

When the Moto GP World Championship kicked off at Termas de Río Hondo last Friday, Aprilias were one step ahead. Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales dominated in the dry and, for the first time in a long time, the bikes to beat in a Grand Prix were not Ducatis. All this changed as the weather conditions changed.

Álex Márquez’s pole position on Saturday, with the first rains of the weekend, was already a warning. But there was never as much water on the asphalt as at the start of a Moto GP race. Even in those difficult conditions, the Ducatis had no equal. Bezzecchi was joined on the podium by Johann Zarco and Álex Márquez, and fifth was Jorge Martín. And it could have been defeated if Pecco Bagnaia had not fallen to the ground when he was second. Despite losing that spot on the final lap, unable to hold off the freed Zarac in the final stretch, the Cervera rider had the best weekend of his life in Moto GP: “If they had told me before coming to Argentina that I would get pole position, fifth place in the sprint and the podium on Sunday, I would have signed.” After three tough years at Honda, Álex Márquez is enjoying his dream start with Ducati and still has a bike to discover. Better things can come this year, promised the Catalan, who is already fourth in the championship.

change of leader

Ducati not only reached the podium in Argentina, but also dominates the championship with an iron hand. Bezzecchi is the new leader, taking advantage of the mistake of the hitherto infallible Bagnaija. The Moto GP champion crashed while riding alone, and the worst thing is that he didn’t realize what happened: «I made a mistake and I threw out the second place that I tied. But what makes me a little more angry is that we don’t understand what happened.”

Despite Bagnaia rejoining the race, he finished sixteenth and left Argentina without any points. This causes the classification to be compressed, as there is a back-to-back race between the leader, Bezzecchi, and sixth. Bagnaija’s zero was not fully exploited by his main competitors for the title either. Jorge Martín did not excel in Termas, but finished fifth.

Arbolino wins in the second category and Tatsuki in the third

Italian Tony Arbolino (Kalex) took victory in Moto 2, taking the temporary championship lead, while Spaniard Alonso López (Speed​​​​​​Up), the author of the pole, took the second final place, with the British Jake Dixon ( Kalex), third. For his part, Japan’s Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) took his first win of the season and third of his racing career with victory in Moto 3 at the Argentine Grand Prix where he crashed on the last lap and was hit by Britain’s Scott Ogden (Honda), Spain David Almansa, who continues without a hit.