Bezzecchi delivers historic win for Rossi’s MotoGP team

The rain-soaked Argentina Grand Prix delivered high drama as Marco Bezzecchi secured a historic win for Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP team, but not without heartbreak as their reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia crashed out of second place.

In the wet Argentina Grand Prix, Marco Bezzecchi secured the first-ever premier-class win for Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP team.

However, the team’s joy was short-lived as their top rider, reigning MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia, crashed from a nearly certain second place and ultimately finished in 16th position, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of the VR46 organization.

Bezzecchi, who was expected to perform well in dry conditions, may have been disappointed by the heavy rainfall on Sunday which resulted in the wettest track conditions of the entire weekend. However, he had shown promising performance in the rain during Sunday’s morning warm-up session when he was the fastest rider.

As the race began, Bezzecchi took the lead from the second position on the grid as Franco Morbidelli’s attempt to outpace him on the brakes fell short. This allowed the Ducati 1-2-3 lineup from qualifying to remain intact.

After gaining an early lead of six-tenths of a second, Bezzecchi briefly appeared to be threatened by pole-sitter Alex Marquez. However, this did not last long as he extended his lead to one second by the fifth lap and two seconds by the end of the seventh lap. On the 14th lap out of 25, Bezzecchi’s lead reached the four-second mark.

Meanwhile, there was a change in the battle for second place as Pecco Bagnaia overtook Marquez at Turn 9, only for Marquez to try and retaliate at Turn 11 before ultimately giving up the position for good at Turn 13.

However, just two laps later, Bagnaia, who had seemed to secure his position in second place, crashed out of the race at the same corner where he overtook Marquez. This mishap allowed Marquez to reclaim the second position, and he was able to maintain a comfortable gap to Franco Morbidelli, who was in third place.

On the third-to-last lap, Morbidelli made a mistake by running wide, which allowed Johann Zarco to overtake him. Within a lap, Zarco caught up to Marquez, setting up a thrilling battle between the two Ducati riders on the final lap. Zarco ultimately emerged victorious after overtaking Marquez under braking into Turn 5.

This second-place finish marked Zarco’s 16th MotoGP podium but he is still in pursuit of his first win. Marquez settled for third place, which was his third podium and the first as a Gresini rider, thus completing a Ducati 1-2-3 finish.

Morbidelli finished in fourth place comfortably, followed by Zarco’s Pramac teammate Jorge Martin, who won a fierce battle with KTM’s Jack Miller in the early stages of the race.

Fabio Quartararo put up an impressive performance by finishing in seventh place after being pushed back to the rear of the grid due to a Takaaki Nakagami’s divebomb at Turn 7 on the opening lap. Quartararo displayed great skill by making his way through the pack.

Luca Marini on VR46 Ducati, Alex Rins on LCR Honda, and Fabio Di Giannantonio on Gresini Ducati finished in the top 10, with both Rins and Di Giannantonio running in the top five during the early stages of the race.

Tech3 Gas Gas rookie Augusto Fernandez put in a solid performance to finish in 11th position, taking advantage of a poor showing from the Aprilia bikes, which had looked strong during dry practice sessions.

The Aprilia bikes failed to make an impact in the race, with Maverick Vinales finishing in 12th place after a disappointing start, and Aleix Espargaro struggling to keep up with the pace and finishing in a difficult 15th place.

Takaaki Nakagami and Raul Fernandez on RNF Aprilia finished between them. Although Joan Mir was absent due to his sprint race crash, the remaining 17 riders all managed to finish the race, but Bagnaia was not the only rider who crashed out.

Brad Binder, who had a remarkable sprint race, starting 15th and finishing in the first position, was involved in a collision with Vinales on the opening lap of the main race and was relegated to the back of the grid for the remainder of the race.

The stewards investigated both the Binder/Vinales crash and Nakagami’s divebomb on Quartararo during the race, but no further action was taken in either case.

Due to Bagnaia’s crash, Bezzecchi has taken the lead in the championship with a nine-point advantage. Zarco and Marquez have also secured spots in the top four standings, resulting in a Ducati dominance with a 1-TO-4 finish.

Results of the Termas round of the 2023 MotoGP Argentina race

The latest MotoGP world championship standings after the Argentina Grand Prix.

Bezzecchi delivers historic win for Rossi’s MotoGP team 2023 Bezzecchi delivers historic win for Rossi’s MotoGP team 2023 Bezzecchi delivers historic win for Rossi’s MotoGP team 2023 Bezzecchi delivers historic win for Rossi’s MotoGP team 2023

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