Results Grand Prix of Argentina, Termas de Rio Hondo

2014-04-29 09:59
Repsol Honda RC213V rider Marc Marquez claimed a
classic third successive pole-to-victory win at
Argentina’s brand-new Termas del Rio Honda
circuit today, extending his championship lead in
a perfect start to his season as defending World Champion.

The factory team’s celebrations were all the more
intense after a stirring ride from his team-mate
Dani Pedrosa, who set the new track’s lap record
as he fought his way back from seventh place to
take second from Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) with just over a lap to go.

It was the second double-top result in succession
for the Repsol Honda pair, extending their early
lead in the World Championship race on the eve of
the European season and reinforcing the status of
the Honda RC213V as the leader of the MotoGP
pack. Marquez has won every race, and Pedrosa has
a full house of podium finishes to back it up.

Marquez was in dominant form all weekend. He led
all but one of the free practice session, then
underlined his margin with a comfortable third
pole in succession ahead of Lorenzo and Pedrosa.

The new circuit is in the remote north-west of
Argentina, but the first race the country for 15
years attracted a massive capacity crowd from all around Latin America.

They were treated to a thrilling race. The first
laps on the fast and sinuous circuit were a
dramatic scramble for positions up front.

As Lorenzo capitalised on an early lead, Marquez
fought his way through to second by the fourth of
25 laps, closed on his rival, then stalked him
patiently before firmly outbraking him on lap 17 to move away steadily.

He won his third race successive race at a canter
by 1.83 seconds. Already the youngest ever GP
winner and World Champion, it was further proof
of devastatingly strong form for the 21-year-old
and his triumphant 1000cc V4 Honda.

The spur for him to take the lead was Pedrosa,
for Marquez knew by now that his team-mate was
closing fast. The older rider had been pushed
back to sixth in an early brawl more reminiscent
of Moto3 than MotoGP. It gave him a hard task,
but he set to it with a will, picking off his
rivals one by one to take third before half distance.

At this point he was more than three seconds
behind Lorenzo … but with his quarry in view
round several of the popular track’s long, wide
corners Pedrosa used the skill and determination
of a former 125 and double 250 champion to cut
away at the gap with sustained aggression. With
less than two laps to go, he had caught him, and scythed firmly past.

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) was fourth, after
finally prevailing over Stefan Bradl (Team LCR
Honda RC213V). The German rider was battered from
a heavy fall on the previous day, so fifth was a
well-earned addition to his fourth at the previous round.

The fourth Honda RC213V rider Alvaro Bautista
(GO&FUN Honda Gresini) crashed out of the race in
the early stages – a victim of heavy traffic and
a slippery sandy track surface off the racing
line. It was a third non-finish in a row for the
former 125cc World Champion, who has an extra
role race-testing Nissin brakes and Showa suspension.

The new customer Honda RCV1000R machines played
an exciting part in a long and fierce battle for
the last top-ten position. All four were closely
involved at some stage, and the result was only
decided in the last corner, when Hiroshi Aoyama
pounced on his Drive M7 Aspar team-mate Nicky
Hayden to steal the place by inches over the line.

Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing Honda
RCV1000R) was hardly any further behind in 13th,
with Yonny Hernandez (Ducati) 12th, all four over
the line within less than two seconds.

Scott Redding (GO&FUN Gresini Honda RCV1000R) had
been part of the battle for much of the race, and was a close 14th.

In the all-Honda-powered Moto2 class, Marc VDS
Racing Team Kalex rider Esteve “Tito” Rabat
extended his points lead with a masterful
start-to-finish victory, after claiming his third pole position in succession.

Close, exciting and reliable racing is guaranteed
in Moto2, with all entries powered by identical
race-tuned CBR600 engines supplied by the
organisers. Rabat rose above his rivals for all
23 laps, finishing better than two seconds clear.

Front-row qualifier Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil
Gresini Moto2 Suter) followed him, also moving
clear, leaving class rookie Luis Salom (Pons HP
40 Kalex), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert
Suter) and Simone Corsi (NGM Forward-KLX) to live
up to the class’s reputation for close fighting
in a battle for third. They finished in that order.

It was Salom’s first rostrum in the class, and he
also claimed fastest lap; Pons HP 40 Kalex
team-mate Maverick Vinales – a surprise winner in
Austin – crashed out in close combat in the early stages.

Alex de Angelis (Tasca Racing Moto2 Suter) was a
safe sixth; Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team
Kalex) was seventh; rookie Sam Lowes (Speed Up)
came through to eighth, ahead of Sandro Cortese
(Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex) and Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter).

In the Moto3 class, where rival manufacturers
battle it out using 250cc four-stroke engines,
Honda continued its run of podium finishes, with
Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) fighting
tooth and nail to hang on to second in a thrilling last-corner battle.

The race was won by Romano Fenati (KTM), with the
similarly mounted Jack Miller third, less than half a second behind the leader.

Second Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider Alex Rins had
been with the leading group, and was still less
than five seconds away in fifth. He narrowly held
off fellow-Spaniard Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG
Honda), who had dropped back after disputing the lead in the early stages.

Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold Honda) was at the
head of a group fighting for 11th; Zulfahmi
Khairuddin (Ongetta-AirAsia Honda) claimed the
final point in 15th. John McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG
Honda) crashed out unhurt while running strongly
in the top five in the earl laps.

The next race at Jerez in one week marks the
start of the European season, after the three
opening flyaway races in Qatar, the USA and
Argentina. There are 18 rounds in the World
Championship, which concludes in Valencia in Spain in November.


Honda MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda: 1st
“I am happy with how the weekend went in
general and I’d like to thank all my team. I
think it was a nice race for the fans, with
plenty of passes and I wasn't expecting it to be
like that. As the race went on and I saw what the
gap was to Jorge Lorenzo and I tried to catch up
with him quickly and spend a few laps on his
tail. When I saw that Dani was getting closer, I
tried to overtake in order to maintain more of a
gap. I took 25 more points today which are very
important and I've put together three wins in a
row, but we are aware that the season is very
long and we are now heading to Jerez where Dani
and Jorge are very fast. We will need to be up
there with them, fighting for the win!”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 2nd
"I enjoyed the race but after losing some time at
the start it affected me and I found myself alone
again. In the final part of the race I had a good
pace and was able to recover places, but it
didn't count for much. I took second place, but
with the pace that we had we could have pushed
for the win. You always have to learn and maybe I
saved my tyres too much when I was riding as part
of the group. Fortunately we found a good setup
that allowed us to be more competitive, and this is positive.”

Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda: 5th
“Considering yesterday’s crash in qualifying and
the ninth position on the grid, I think we can be
very happy with this result. I knew that we
needed a good start from the third row, and I
made it. The first lap was a bit crazy, but after
that I think I played my role in the battle for
the front group. We were strong on braking and we
could fight with the other guys and I had a lot
of fun. In the final part of the race I could not
match the speed of the front guys because I had
some issues with the front, so I preferred to
remain calm to finish my race in a safe and good position.”

Hiroshi Aoyama, Drive M7 Aspar Honda: 10th
“The race was tough. At this new circuit we had
many doubts about the durability of the tyres,
but I’m very happy to have concluded the race as
the best Open class rider. In the last third of
the race my tyres were almost on the limit, but I
guess this was similar for everyone. I had fun,
coming from behind at the end of the race. I had
some good battles with Hernandez and Nicky and we
swapped places several times on the closing laps.
I’m glad I was able to place ahead of them and
take tenth position. Earlier this year everything
was new to me, but I’ve grown since I joined this
team and I think that the result today is the
reward for all our hard work. I hope to continue
like this next weekend when we go to Europe.”

Nicky Hayden, Drive M7 Aspar Honda: 11th
“I really enjoyed riding today, though I would
have liked to have beaten my team-mate after an
interesting fight. At the start of the race I did
not had a good feeling with the front end. The
track conditions had been improving throughout
the weekend and so we worked to find rear grip.
However, with the improving condition of the
asphalt, having so much rear grip made the bike
push onto the front end. I guess I am not the
only one that this happened to, either. At first
I struggled to pick up the pace and move up the
field, because I couldn’t brake well. As the laps
went by I started to feel more comfortable and I
managed to overtake people. On the last lap Hiro
closed the gap and he was better on the back
straight section. I went a little wide and he got
past me. It would have been great to finish as
the top Open rider, but Hiro deserved it. I will
have to be more attentive next time. Nevertheless
I think we did a very good job this weekend.”

Karel Abraham, Cardion AB Motoracing Honda: 13th
“I can say I’m really happy after this race. I
finished in front of Redding and I fought all the
race with Aoyama and Hayden. Unfortunately I
couldn’t stay in front of them to the end. I
thought to be able to do it, but I had my front
wheel locked up several time when braking hard,
so I decided to not take too risk. In the last
lap I tried to get past Hernandez, but I was late
on the brakes and he took his position back.
Nevertheless it was very good race for me and I
hope to continue this way in Jerez.”

Scott Redding, GO&FUN Honda Gresini: 14th
“It was a difficult race, because I couldn’t stop
the bike. I was struggling a lot with front grip
under braking. I already had this problem a
little this morning during warm-up, but the
situation in the race was worse: I went wide a
lot of times and I couldn’t really overtake
anyone. This basically spoiled my whole race: I
lost half a second on my pace, so I’m
disappointed. Also, I was not feeling really
great physically: yesterday I started to feel
something like a cold, with a lot of sneezing,
and today my energy level came down. It’s
annoying, because we thought we had a good chance today.”

Alvaro Bautista, GO&FUN Honda Gresini: DNF
““I really don’t know what to say, I am very
sorry. It’s a shame, because today I had a good
feeling ahead of the race. The only thing we can
do now is continue to work hard, as always. We
hope to reverse the trend the next weekend in Jerez.”


Honda Moto2 Rider Quotes

Tito Rabat, Marc VDS Racing Team, 1st
“From the outside it might have looked like an
easy race but on the bike it was incredibly
difficult. It is not easy to keep maximum
concentration and I knew that if I made a small
mistake Simeon was ready to attack. I am really
happy because I made a good start and led the
whole race. I have to say a big thanks to my team
because they gave me a fantastic bike and the
tyre choice was perfect. We go to Jerez with a
nice lead in the championship but I can’t relax
because Mika is now second and he will be pushing hard as always.”

Xavier Simeon, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2, 2nd
“I had a good start, maybe the best ever, then I
could make my own rhythm and I tried to follow
Rabat, even if he was slightly faster than me. In
the early stages of the race with the full tank,
however, I didn’t want to stress too much the
front tyre because I didn’t know if it would be
good for the whole race. Anyway, I managed to
maintain the second place also when Salom was
close to me, then I was able to open a good gap.
At that point I knew it would not have been
possible to reach Rabat, so I managed to keep the
concentration and brought home the result. I want
to thank the team because it’s doing a great job.
We could have been on the podium at Austin, but
there I made a mistake, but finally here we had
that bit of luck that we missed in the first two
races. Now we want to continue like this.”


Luis Salom, Pons HP 40 Team, 3rd
“This was so important, after some really bad
races. It started last year when a rider knocked
me off in Japan, then I crashed in the last race
riding for the title. I started on the wrong foot
in the first two Moto2 races also, and this is
hard for a rider. You start to ask why? But
yesterday morning something changed in my mind
and also in my bike. In the race I thought fourth
or fifth would be okay, but at the end I thought
I could go faster, and got this third place!”



Honda Moto3 Rider Quotes

Alex Marquez, Estrella Galicia 0.0, 2nd
“It was a very difficult weekend and I think we
worked very well all three days. Yesterday we had
a hard time in the qualifying, I made a mistake,
but in today’s warm-up we found the solution for
the race. I knew I had to concentrate, but I
didn’t start well and in the first corner I went
wide and many riders overtook me, which made it
hard to get back ahead. I tried to concentrate
again and continue in my line, and gradually we
made it to the front group. The last lap was fun,
we were in front many times and I really enjoyed
it. This result gives us good motivation for Jerez.”

Efren Vazquez, Saxoprint RTG, 6th
“I was doing really good laps in the beginning,
but finally after some lap I started to get a
strange feeling from the front tyre. The steering
was trying to close on me in the corners. That
didn’t happen all through practice – maybe the
asphalt was a bit different today. Anyway, we got
good points for the championship, and we will
continue at Jerez in the same way, pushing every session.”


Alex Rins, Estrella Galicia 0,0, 5th
“In the end it was a fairly successful result.
After how it went for the whole Grand Prix, we’re
happy with this fifth place. This weekend has
been the most I’ve learned in all the races that
I’ve been in. In the race today, at first it was
difficult to overtake other riders to get ahead,
but little by little I was able to reach the lead
group. It was a shame because Efren (Vazquez) was
a little wide in one turn and I lost contact with
them, which ended my opportunity for a better
result. The important thing is that we have not
stopped working, the whole team is working hard and we have to focus on Jerez.”


RESULTS

MOTOGP
RACE: (25 laps = 120.15 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / KM/H / GAP
1 / Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 41'39.821 / 173.0 /
2 / Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 41'41.658 / 172.9 / 1.837
3 / Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
/ YAMAHA / 41'43.022 / 172.8 / 3.201
4 / Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha
MotoGP / YAMAHA / 41'44.719 / 172.6 / 4.898
5 / Stefan BRADL / GER / LCR Honda MotoGP / HONDA / 41'54.850 / 171.9 / 15.029
6 / Andrea IANNONE / ITA / Pramac Racing / DUCATI / 41'59.268 / 171.6 / 19.447
7 / Bradley SMITH / GBR / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 /
YAMAHA / 42'04.013 / 171.3 / 24.192
8 / Pol ESPARGARO / SPA / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 /
YAMAHA / 42'08.939 / 171.0 / 29.118
9 / Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Ducati Team / DUCATI / 42'13.494 / 170.7 / 33.673
10 / Hiroshi AOYAMA / JPN / Drive M7 Aspar / HONDA / 42'23.100 / 170.0 / 43.279
11 / Nicky HAYDEN / USA / Drive M7 Aspar / HONDA / 42'23.173 / 170.0 / 43.352
12 / Yonny HERNANDEZ / COL / Energy T.I. Pramac
Racing / DUCATI / 42'24.640 / 169.9 / 44.819
13 / Karel ABRAHAM / CZE / Cardion AB Motoracing
/ HONDA / 42'24.999 / 169.9 / 45.178
14 / Scott REDDING / GBR / GO&FUN Honda Gresini /
HONDA / 42'28.477 / 169.7 / 48.656
15 / Aleix ESPARGARO / SPA / NGM Forward Racing /
FORWARD YAMAHA / 42'32.071 / 169.4 / 52.250
16 / Hector BARBERA / SPA / Avintia Racing /
AVINTIA / 42'33.326 / 169.4 / 53.505
17 / Michele PIRRO / ITA / Ducati Team / DUCATI / 42'33.490 / 169.3 / 53.669
18 / Michael LAVERTY / GBR / Paul Bird Motorsport
/ PBM / 42'36.391 / 169.1 / 56.570
19 / Mike DI MEGLIO / FRA / Avintia Racing /
AVINTIA / 42'42.961 / 168.7 / 1'03.140
20 / Colin EDWARDS / USA / NGM Forward Racing /
FORWARD YAMAHA / 42'45.581 / 168.5 / 1'05.760

Pole Position: Marc MARQUEZ 1'37.683 177.1 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Dani PEDROSA 1'39.233 174.3 Km/h Lap 22
Old Circuit Record Lap: New circuit
Circuit Best Lap: Marc MARQUEZ 1'37.683 177.1 Km/h 2014

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TILL DATE:
1 MARQUEZ 75, 2 PEDROSA 56, 3 ROSSI 41, 4 DOVIZIOSO 34, 5 IANNONE 25,
6 BRADL 24, 7 LORENZO 22, 8 A. ESPARGARO 21, 9 SMITH 20, 10 P.ESPARGARO 18,
11 HAYDEN 18, 12 AOYAMA 15, 13 REDDING 11, 14 HERNANDEZ 11, 15 CRUTCHLOW 10,
16 ABRAHAM 8, 17 EDWARDS 7, 18 PETRUCCI 2, 19 BARBERA 1, 20 PARKES 1.


MOTO2
RACE: (23 laps = 110.538 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / KM/H / GAP
1 / Esteve RABAT / SPA / Marc VDS Racing Team / KALEX / 40'06.114 / 165.3 /
2 / Xavier SIMEON / BEL / Federal Oil Gresini
Moto2 / SUTER / 40'08.208 / 165.2 / 2.094
3 / Luis SALOM / SPA / Pons HP 40 / KALEX / 40'09.816 / 165.1 / 3.702
4 / Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Technomag carXpert
/ SUTER / 40'10.982 / 165.0 / 4.868
5 / Simone CORSI / ITA / NGM Forward Racing /
FORWARD KLX / 40'11.124 / 165.0 / 5.010
6 / Alex DE ANGELIS / RSM / Tasca Racing Moto2 /
SUTER / 40'14.678 / 164.7 / 8.564
7 / Mika KALLIO / FIN / Marc VDS Racing Team /
KALEX / 40'19.271 / 164.4 / 13.157
8 / Sam LOWES / GBR / Speed Up / SPEED UP / 40'25.870 / 164.0 / 19.756
9 / Sandro CORTESE / GER / Dynavolt Intact GP /
KALEX / 40'26.422 / 164.0 / 20.308
10 / Jordi TORRES / SPA / Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2
/ SUTER / 40'26.492 / 163.9 / 20.378
11 / Marcel SCHROTTER / GER / Tech 3 / TECH 3 / 40'27.084 / 163.9 / 20.970
12 / Anthony WEST / AUS / QMMF Racing Team /
SPEED UP / 40'27.613 / 163.9 / 21.499
13 / Franco MORBIDELLI / ITA / Italtrans Racing
Team / KALEX / 40'32.913 / 163.5 / 26.799
14 / Nicolas TEROL / SPA / Mapfre Aspar Team
Moto2 / SUTER / 40'33.107 / 163.5 / 26.993
15 / Takaaki NAKAGAMI / JPN / IDEMITSU Honda Team
Asia / KALEX / 40'33.253 / 163.5 / 27.139
16 / Jonas FOLGER / GER / AGR Team / KALEX / 40'34.712 / 163.4 / 28.598
17 / Julian SIMON / SPA / Italtrans Racing Team /
KALEX / 40'39.547 / 163.1 / 33.433
18 / Johann ZARCO / FRA / AirAsia Caterham /
CATERHAM SUTER / 40'42.583 / 162.9 / 36.469
19 / Thomas LUTHI / SWI / Interwetten Paddock
Moto2 / SUTER / 40'43.475 / 162.8 / 37.361
20 / Hafizh SYAHRIN / MAL / Petronas Raceline
Malaysia / KALEX / 40'49.717 / 162.4 / 43.603

Pole Position: Esteve RABAT 1'43.961 166.4 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Luis SALOM 1'44.011 166.3 Km/h Lap 21
Old Circuit Record Lap: New circuit
Circuit Best Lap: Esteve RABAT 1'43.914 166.4 Km/h 2014

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TILL DATE:
1 RABAT 70, 2 KALLIO 42, 3 VIÑALES 38, 4 CORSI
33, 5 AEGERTER 29, 6 LUTHI 26, 7 SIMEON 20,
8 WEST 20, 9 SALOM 18, 10 LOWES 18, 11 DE ANGELIS
18, 12 CORTESE 18, 13 TORRES 14,
14 SCHROTTER 12, 15 CARDUS 10, 16 ROSSI 6, 17 NAKAGAMI 6, 18 KRUMMENACHER 6,
19 FOLGER 5, 20 PASINI 4.


MOTO3
RACE: (21 laps = 100.926 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / KM/H / GAP
1 / Romano FENATI / ITA / SKY Racing Team VR46 / KTM / 38'34.451 / 156.9 /
2 / Alex MARQUEZ / SPA / Estrella Galicia 0,0 /
HONDA / 38'34.550 / 156.9 / 0.099
3 / Jack MILLER / AUS / Red Bull KTM Ajo / KTM / 38'34.991 / 156.9 / 0.540
4 / Livio LOI / BEL / Marc VDS Racing Team /
KALEX KTM / 38'35.075 / 156.9 / 0.624
5 / Alex RINS / SPA / Estrella Galicia 0,0 / HONDA / 38'39.981 / 156.6 / 5.530
6 / Efren VAZQUEZ / SPA / SaxoPrint-RTG / HONDA / 38'40.104 / 156.6 / 5.653
7 / Isaac VIÑALES / SPA / Calvo Team / KTM / 38'43.416 / 156.3 / 8.965
8 / Niklas AJO / FIN / Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo
/ HUSQVARNA / 38'49.436 / 155.9 / 14.985
9 / Danny KENT / GBR / Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo /
HUSQVARNA / 38'49.494 / 155.9 / 15.043
10 / Enea BASTIANINI / ITA / Junior Team GO&FUN
Moto3 / KTM / 38'51.761 / 155.8 / 17.310
11 / Alexis MASBOU / FRA / Ongetta-Rivacold /
HONDA / 38'53.272 / 155.7 / 18.821
12 / Juanfran GUEVARA / SPA / Mapfre Aspar Team
Moto3 / KALEX KTM / 38'53.489 / 155.7 / 19.038
13 / Alessandro TONUCCI / ITA / CIP / MAHINDRA / 38'53.648 / 155.6 / 19.197
14 / Brad BINDER / RSA / Ambrogio Racing /
MAHINDRA / 39'03.452 / 155.0 / 29.001
15 / Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN / MAL / Ongetta-AirAsia
/ HONDA / 39'12.575 / 154.4 / 38.124
16 / Hafiq AZMI / MAL / SIC-AJO / KTM / 39'13.061 / 154.4 / 38.610
17 / Scott DEROUE / NED / RW Racing GP / KALEX KTM / 39'13.120 / 154.4 / 38.669
18 / Bryan SCHOUTEN / NED / CIP / MAHINDRA / 39'13.258 / 154.3 / 38.807
19 / Eric GRANADO / BRA / Calvo Team / KTM / 39'23.168 / 153.7 / 48.717
20 / Jakub KORNFEIL / CZE / Calvo Team / KTM / 39'33.376 / 153.0 / 58.925

Pole Position: Jack MILLER 1'49.200 158.4 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Alex MARQUEZ 1'49.109 158.5 Km/h Lap 3
Ol Circuit Record Lap: New circuit
Circuit Best Lap: Alex MARQUEZ 1'49.109 158.5 Km/h 2014

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TILL DATE:
1 MILLER 66, 2 FENATI 49, 3 VAZQUEZ 42, 4 MARQUEZ 40, 5 RINS 35, 6 MASBOU 24,
7 KORNFEIL 21, 8 KENT 18, 9 LOI 17, 10 VIÑALES
17, 11 BAGNAIA 15, 12 OLIVEIRA 14,
13 MCPHEE 12, 14 AJO 10, 15 BASTIANINI 9, 16
GUEVARA 9, 17 HANIKA 8, 18 ANTONELLI 7,
19 TONUCCI 3, 20 BINDER 3.


NEXT EVENT: ROUND04, MAY 04 JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN.

Source: Honda Pro Image

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