Argentina, Moto3, FP2: McPhee takes the lead

The Qatar Grand Prix had been anything but pleasant for a Jaume Masia who intends to get back on his feet in the second round in Argentina. Best time from the start at Termas de Rio Hondo, he is in good shape to continue his journey calmly. Behind, the Sniper pilots have him in their sights. While Kornfeil allows KTM to sandwich two Hondas. What will the Argentinian afternoon bring? 

Before answering this question, here is the table which 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

25° in the air and 40° on the track, we are not far from the thermal shock between morning and this afternoon in Argentina. This should inevitably be reflected in performance. The sun, for its part, is less shy.

Dallas Port entry crash at turn 7. Antonelli did a 1'50.955, but missed shortly after, fortunately without consequences. He is the only one under the 1'51 mark. Tuff, the winner of Qatar, falls at turn 5.

After the first quarter of an hour, fenati takes the lead in 1'50.851 in front of the stage local Rodrigo. In 1'50.748, Dallas Port shows that his fall at the start of the exercise did not disturb him more than that...

It is now the first four who are the only ones to have passed the barrier of 1'51 per lap. As we enter the last quarter of an hour, this singularity dies hard. It will be remembered that the challenge of this day is to qualify among the first fourteen. Only these will have an opportunity to approach, without going through the Q1 repechages, the qualifying final of Q2.

The drivers take the alternate route of turn 7, known as the penalty turn, in the event of a sanction imposed during the race by the marshals. And the least we can say is that the grip is precarious...

In 1'50.510, Suzuki takes the lead in front Antonelli et Foggia. But Canet immediately takes the scepter back from him. In 1'50.337. There's one minute left of the game, and it's the final assault...

The proof, McPhee slams a 1'49.892, followed byArbolino. the two men are the only ones under 1'50 per lap. Rodrigo is in the top three. We'll leave it there... With a fenati only fourteenth!

Argentina, Moto3, FP2: times

1	17	John MCPHEE	Honda	1'49.892
2	14	Tony ARBOLINO	Honda	1'49.971	0.079	0.079
3	23	Niccolo ANTONELLI	Honda	1'50.061	0.169	0.090
4	19	Gabriel RODRIGO	Honda	1'50.080	0.188	0.019
5	24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	1'50.132	0.240	0.052
6	44	Arón CANET	KTM	1'50.337	0.445	0.205
7	7	Dennis FOGGIA	KTM	1'50.390	0.498	0.053
8	5	Jaume MASIÁ	KTM	1'50.572	0.680	0.182
9	77	Vicente PÉREZ	KTM	1'50.575	0.683	0.003
10	25	Raul FERNÁNDEZ	KTM	1'50.743	0.851	0.168
11	48	Lorenzo FROM THE DOOR	Honda	1'50.748	0.856	0.005
12	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	Honda	1'50.774	0.882	0.026
13	27	Kaito TOBA	Honda	1'50.820	0.928	0.046
14	55	Roman FENATI	Honda	1'50.851	0.959	0.031
15	71	Ayumu SASAKI	Honda	1'50.923	1.031	0.072
16	16	Andrea MIGNO	KTM	1'50.926	1.034	0.003
17	61	Can ÖNCÜ	KTM	1'51.033	1.141	0.107
18	22	Kazuki MASAKI	KTM	1'51.080	1.188	0.047
19	40	Darryn BINDER	KTM	1'51.091	1.199	0.011
20	11	Sergio GARCIA	Honda	1'51.316	1.424	0.225
21	84	Jakub KORNFEIL	KTM	1'51.330	1.438	0.014
22	13	Celestino VIETTI	KTM	1'51.360	1.468	0.030
23	54	Riccardo ROSSI	Honda	1'51.458	1.566	0.098
24	76	Makar YURCHENKO	KTM	1'51.596	1.704	0.138
25	21	Alonso LÓPEZ	Honda	1'51.707	1.815	0.111
26	79	To OGURA	Honda	1'52.024	2.132	0.317
27	12	Philip SALAC	KTM	1'52.080	2.188	0.056
28	81	Alex VIU	KTM	1'52.114	2.222	0.034
29	69	Tom BOOTH-AMOS	KTM	1'52.690	2.798	0.576