Starting from 15th position and winning the race. An exploit that does not often succeed in MotoGP, but it is what the South African Brad Binder managed to do, even if in just 12 laps of the sprint race on the Termas de Rio Hondo track which hosts the Argentine GP, the second race of the 2023 world championship. Binder has above all succeeded in the feat of making his way with his Ktm between the powerful Ducatis and Aprilias, keeping behind the pair of the VR46 team formed by Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini and another Italian, Franco Morbidelli, excellent fourth with Yamaha, while the reigning champion, Francesco Bagnaia, did not seek a tussle, finishing with a sixth place which still keeps him at the top of the World Championship with 41 points and a lead of 13 over Maverick Vinales, seventh today, and 16 over Bezzecchi. The South African took off like a rocket, taking advantage of a gap on the right of the grid and halfway through the first lap he was already close to the leaders, then one by one he overtook everyone until he also reached the provisional leader, Morbidelli. His pace allowed him to gain enough margin to protect him, in the brevity of the competition, from the return of his pursuers. It was Bezzecchi who tried until the end and after making a mistake in the middle of the race, he returned to the charge to find himself in Binder’s exhausts on the last lap, trying without success for the decisive overtake. STANDINGS AND STARTING GRID
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The starting grid © Ansa
In the final Bagnaia saw his fifth place stolen by Alex Marquez, author of the pole, while the Aprilias did not shine as they had hoped with seventh place for Vinales and a crash by Aleix Espargaro, who was following his compatriot. Fabio Quartararo was also bad, who unlike Morbidelli had a colorless race, finishing in ninth place. Tomorrow’s race will give a different perspective and, given that the grid doesn’t change, Binder will hardly be able to repeat himself, while Bagnaia will be able to show off the power of the Desmosedici to look for an encore of the victory obtained in Portugal. Today in qualifying the Turinese challenged fate a bit, going out on slick tires on a still damp track, admitting at the end that he “almost crashed” but managed to find a third place which will be useful tomorrow. The fastest was Alex Marquez, who with the Gresini team Ducati GP22 posted a 1:43.881 that no one was able to match. For the brother of the multiple champion Marc it was the first pole in his career in MotoGP. However, there is also Bezzecchi in the front row, who will have found new confidence from the result of the sprint to attempt the coup in the race.
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