#ArgentinaGP, Moto3 race: Fantastic comeback and victory for Joan Mir

Already winner of the Qatar Grand Prix, Joan Mir had an exceptional race at Termas de Rio Honda to take a superb victory Joan Mir finally won ahead of John McPhee, Jorge Martin, Philipp Oettl and Andrea Migno. The podium was strictly identical to that of Losail.

#ArgentinaGP Moto3	2016	2017
FP1	1'52.467 Enea Bastianini	1'51.559 Joan Mir
FP2	1'51.137 Enea Bastianini	1'50.248 Joan Mir
FP3	1'49.994 Romano Fenati	1'49.824 Joan Mir
QP	1'49.767 Brad Binder	1'49.094 John McPhee
Warm Up	1'59.445 Khairul Idham Pawi	1'50.453 John McPhee
Course	Pawi Navarro Binder	Mir McPhee Martin
All time lap record	1'48.461 Oliveira 2015	1'49.415 Fenati 2017

The weather was mild for this first Argentinian race of the day, with 22° for the air and 24° for the asphalt. On the physical side of the pilots, Albert Arenas, after a big fall during testing, was able to ride despite his sore left hand. Jules Danilo, victim of an intestinal virus on Friday, also took the start. This was also the case of the only Argentinian driver present this weekend, Gabriel Rodrigo, who broke his collarbone in Qatar.

On the first line, John mcphee (Honda) rubbed shoulders Nicholas Bulega (KTM) and Jorge Martin (Honda). The second row included the three Hondas ofAron Canet, Fabio di Giannantonio and Romano Fenati, which gave a clear advantage to the Japanese manufacturer. The first Mahindra was that of Albert Arenas in nineteenth position. Jules Danilo started from the tenth row of the starting grid.

The rise of Joan mir, winner of the first Grand Prix in Qatar, but only sixteenth on the grid at Termas de Rio Hondo, looked interesting. However, Mir having only started from the front row once before, we could expect a strong comeback. When it came to tires, almost everyone chose a front medium, half the field a rear medium and the other half a hard.

At the start, Jorge Martin was the fastest to start, ahead of John McPhee, Fabio di Giannantonio, Aron Canet and Juanfran Guevara. Nicolo Bulega, a little jostled in the first corner, followed in front of his teammate Andrea Migno. Joan Mir completed the first lap in tenth position, and Jules Danilo in twenty-fifth. Four Hondas dominated with McPhee, Martin, di Giannantonio and Canet, ahead of the KTM of Bulega. Niccolo Antonelli fell without seriousness.

Martin took command ahead of Canet, McPhee, di Giannantonio, Bulega, Oettl and Migno. Livio Loi, then thirteenth, set the best lap in 1'49.686. Behind Martin and Canet, Bulega moved into third position. Oettl briefly took the lead, but Martin overtook him, ahead of Canet, Martin and Bulega. Romano Fenati, who had hit Antonelli during his fall, had dropped to fourteenth position, ahead of Guevara who was also losing ground. Joan Mir, on the other hand, came up like a rocket and climbed into second position behind McPhee, then passed the Scotsman and took command.

Mir and Canet stood out slightly, ahead of McPhee, Oettl, Martin and di Giannantonio. The leading group included around twenty pilots. McPhee moved back into first place, followed by Mir, but the Spaniard passed him again shortly after. Danilo was twenty-second. At mid-race, Mir preceded McPhee, Martin, Oettl and Binder, well up from eleventh place on the grid. Gabriel Rodrigo fell without gravity. Aron Canet fell back to eleventh position. Lorenzo Dalla ported to retire in the pits.

Five drivers stood out in the lead, with Mir, Martin, McPhee, Oettl and Migno. Enea Bastianini and Fabio di Giannantonio fell (separately). Livio Loi led the chasing group at 2.8, ahead of Loi, Suzuki, Binder, Fenati, Bulega and Canet. With 6 rounds remaining, the fight seemed to be between McPhee, Martin, Oettl, Mir and Migno for victory. Fenati in sixth was now more than three seconds behind.

At the end of the race, Mir and McPhee exchanged the lead, just ahead of Oettl, Martin and Migno. Everyone had a hard tire at the rear, with the exception of Andrea Migno who was shod with a medium. Mir, Oettl and McPhee pulled away slightly, with Martin and Migno having a little trouble keeping contact with three laps to go. Then the group of five reformed two laps from the checkered flag.

Mir took the lead on the last lap, ahead of McPhee, Martin, Oettl and Migno. Joan Mir finally won ahead of John McPhee, Jorge Martin, Philipp Oettl and Andrea Migno. Livio Loi finished sixth and at the head of the second group ahead of Romano Fenati. Jules Danilo finished twenty-second.

Joan mir : " The first part of the race was difficult. Fortunately I was able to take the lead quite quickly. I thank my team a lot because I will always remember this race. »

Nicolo Bulega was later demoted.

Grand Prix results:

1. Joan mir SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) 38m 33.377s
2. John Mcphee GBR British Talent Team (Honda) 38m 33.638s
3. George Martin SPA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 38m 33.716s
4. Philipp Oettl GER Südmetall Schedl GP Racing (KTM) 38m 34.018s
5. Andrea Migno ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 38m 34.267s
6. Livio Law BEL Leopard Racing (Honda) 38m 40.975s
7. Roman Fenati ITA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 38m 41.138s
8. Tatsuki suzuki JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 38m 41.208s
9. Juanfran Guevara SPA RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) 38m 45.377s
10. Kaito Toba JPN Honda Team Asia (Honda) 38m 45.456s
11. Aron canet SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 38m 45.655s
12. Darryn binder RSA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 38m 45.671s
13. Nicholas Bulega ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 38m 45.770s
14. Marcos Ramirez SPA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 38m 45.857s
15. Tony Arbolino ITA SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 38m 45.997s
16. Maria Herrera SPA AGR Team (KTM) 38m 46.460s
17. Adam Norrodin MAL SIC Racing Team (Honda) 38m 52.238s
18. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 38m 53.950s
19. Marco Bezzecchi ITA CIP (Mahindra) 39m 0.151s
20. Ayumu Sasaki JPN SIC Racing Team (Honda) 39m 0.282s
21. Manuel Pagliani ITA CIP (Mahindra) 39m 0.777s
22. Jules Danilo FRA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 39m 0.911s
23. Will Bendsneyder NED Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 39m 0.989s
24. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat THA Honda Team Asia (Honda) 39m 8.595s
25. Albert Arenas SPA Aspar Mahindra Moto3 (Mahindra) 39m 23.501s
26. Patrick Pulkkinen END Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 39m 51.756s
27. Enea Bastianini ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 39m 53.441s