Argentina, Moto3, FP1: Masiá kicks off

Moto3 sets off for the second round of its season and under the command of a Japanese in the championship. Winner in Qatar, and first driver from the rising sun to achieve success in the category, Kaito Toba (Honda, Honda Team Asia) qualified twenty-fourth and crossed the finish line nineteenth last year at the Argentine Grand Prix. As for the duel between Honda and KTM, the Termas de Rio Hondo route gives a balanced result. The Japanese manufacturer claims three successes from 2015 to 2017 while the Austrians achieved success in 2014 and 2018..

We will also note the package ofAlbert Arenas  (KTM, Angel Nieto Team), injured, and the start of the season Sergio García (Honda, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) who is a little over 16 years old, a precocity which had prohibited him from accessing the Qatar Grand Prix. The stage location, gabriel rodrigo, (Honda, Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) who raced at Losail with a barely operated collarbone, will be in better shape and hopes to delight his compatriots by becoming the first Argentinian to win in the discipline. He started from third place on the front row last year, something never seen since his compatriot Sebastian Porto in the 250 during 1999.

Before getting started, here is the table that tells the story of the times…

Argentine GP Moto3™	2018	2019
FP1	1'52.190 Marco Bezzecchi	1'51.147 Jaume Masia
FP2	1'50.397 Enea Bastianini
FP3	2'00.315 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Q1	XXX
Q2	1'53.782 Tony Arbolino
Warm Up	1'58.608 Enea Bastianini
Course	Bezzecchi, Canet, Di Giannantonio
All time lap record	1'48.461 Miguel Oliveira 2015

17° in the stands and one more on a track to be cleaned under an overcast sky, here are the conditions for the start of this Argentine Grand Prix. In 1'52.827, Tony Arbolino (Honda, Snipers Team) signs the first choice reference in front of Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda, Leopard Racing) and his teammate Roman Fenati (Honda, Snipers Team). The leading trio is the only one under 1'53 per lap. The same Arbolino pushes its advantage to 1″52.691 while the local stage Rodrigo enters the top 5 also integrated, and in a good way by Arón Canet (KTM, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) who finished second.

Max Biaggi's driver accelerates to 1'52.490 ahead Dallas Port et Jaume Masia (KTM, Bester Capital Dubai) above Andrea Migno (KTM, Bester Capital Dubai) and Arbolino. Masia shows himself in a better light than in Qatar since here he is flirting with the border of 1'51 with his 1'52.110 which gives him command of the sessions which is approaching half-time. Tuff, the winner at Losail, is fourteenth.

As we approach the last five minutes, López achieves a 1'51.722 of good quality while fenati sits third behind Masia. The final moments incite upheaval. fenati, John McPhee (Honda, Petronas Sprinta Racing), and Migno also pass the 1'52 mark and stick to López. But Masia released a 1'51.354 which once again gave him the lead ahead of a Jakub Kornfeil (KTM, Redox PruestlGP) who is ahead of López by a ridiculous thousandth…

We will leave it there with one fenati second and his teammate Arbolino who lowers his flag in front of his elder by 22 thousandths. Cornfeel et López close the top 5. Canet is thirteenth, Tuff ninth, the local Rodrigo eighteenth and Can Öncü (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo) twentieth.

Argentina, Moto3, FP1, times:

1	5	Jaume Masia	KTM	1'51.147
2	55	Roman Fenati	Honda	1'51.650	0.503	0.503
3	14	Tony Arbolino	Honda	1'51.672	0.525	0.022
4	84	Jakub Kornfeil	KTM	1'51.721	0.574	0.049
5	21	Alonso lopez	Honda	1'51.722	0.575	0.001
6	25	Raul fernandez	KTM	1'51.733	0.586	0.011
7	17	John Mcphee	Honda	1'51.809	0.662	0.076
8	16	Andrea Migno	KTM	1'51.831	0.684	0.022
9	27	Kaito Toba	Honda	1'51.852	0.705	0.021
10	22	Kazuki Masaki	KTM	1'51.853	0.706	0.001
11	77	Vicente Perez	KTM	1'51.998	0.851	0.145
12	48	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Honda	1'52.119	0.972	0.121
13	44	Aron Canet	KTM	1'52.125	0.978	0.006
14	7	Dennis Foggia	KTM	1'52.126	0.979	0.001
15	11	Sergio Garcia	Honda	1'52.173	1.026	0.047
16	40	Darryn binder	KTM	1'52.308	1.161	0.135
17	23	Niccolo Antonelli	Honda	1'52.320	1.173	0.012
18	19	gabriel rodrigo	Honda	1'52.421	1.274	0.101
19	76	Makar Yurchenko	KTM	1'52.646	1.499	0.225
20	61	Can Öncüu	KTM	1'52.662	1.515	0.016
21	42	Marcos Ramirez	Honda	1'52.674	1.527	0.012
22	79	Ai Ogura	Honda	1'52.680	1.533	0.006
23	71	Ayumu Sasaki	Honda	1'52.867	1.720	0.187
24	24	Tatsuki suzuki	Honda	1'52.915	1.768	0.048
25	13	Celestine Vietti	KTM	1'53.066	1.919	0.151
26	12	Filip Salac	KTM	1'53.075	1.928	0.009
27	81	Alex Viu	KTM	1'53.563	2.416	0.488
28	54	Riccardo rossi	Honda	1'54.260	3.113	0.697
29	69	Tom Booth Amos	KTM	1'54.707	3.560	0.447