Moto2 Argentina FP1: The first tango is launched at Termas de Rio Hondo

After a first match in Qatar, Moto2 finds itself in Argentina for the second Grand Prix of a season that began with a victorious Italy since bagnaia and Baldassarri constitute the leading duo of this fledgling championship. The first free practice session begins on a track at Termas de Rio Hondo partly redone and for the moment spared from the wrath of heaven. The drivers will have to deal with temperatures of around 22° in the air and almost 29° on the track.    

 

#ArgentinaGP Moto2	2017	2018
FP1	1'44.943 Lorenzo Baldassarri
FP2	1'44.188 Franco Morbidelli
FP3	1'46.100 Lorenzo Baldassarri
Qualification	1'45.616 Miguel Oliveira
Warm Up	1'43.154 Miguel Oliveira
Course	Morbidelli, Oliveira, Lüthi
All time lap record	1'42.809 Johann Zarco 2015

 

Incidentally, this Argentinian deadline is heavy with symbolism. Indeed, the last four editions of the only Grand Prix in South America have been won by a rider who subsequently became World Champion before moving into MotoGP. Enough to make you want it!

The first reference is established by Brad Binder on the KTM in 1'46.294. But it only takes a few turns to bagnaia to place his VR46 Kalex in command of the timesheet in 1'46.154. It will be recalled that, for his first in the category in 2017, he finished his race on this circuit in an honorable seventh position.

A fact that makes fun of Olive tree who is the first to pass below the 1'46 per lap mark as the end of the last quarter of an hour approaches. The other KTM official puts the cursor at 1'45.881. A better time rectified by Pasini in 1'45.668. But the machines from Mattighofen do not want to let this happen and Brad Binder resumes the offensive with a 1'45.168... That is to say a thousandth better than bagnaia ! Olive tree follows the two men by only a tenth…

For the rest of the peloton, twenty minutes from the goal, we note a Alex Marquez sixth while his teammate Mir is tenth ahead agitated. Sam Lowes eighth point. Remy Gardner puts the Tech3 fourteenth and Fabio Quartararo presents himself eighteenth.

A quarter of an hour from the goal, Pasini took a new step in the session with a time below 1'45. His 1'44.824 already signals that the performance of this Moto2 start at Termas de Rio Hondo will be faster than that of last year when 1'44.943 was the fastest lap. The Italian from Italtrans even accelerates, increasing his advantage to 1'44.641... Not without giving himself a little scare!

Five minutes from the goal, Jules Danilo crash at turn 13… He was second to last. Olive tree does not feel sorry for himself by achieving a 1'44.633 synonymous with the leadership position. This is eight thousandths less than the performance of Pasini, second… Three minutes from the checkered flag, Will Bendsneyder fell at turn 13 but his bike remained on the trajectory. Fortunately, the obstacle does not cause any further accidents.

In the last minute, Pasini gives everything he has to sign a 1'44.461 which closes the debates. Oliveira is second in front of his teammate Binder and the winner of Qatar bagnaia. Kent is sixth with the SpeedUp that Quarterly twenty-second place. Alex Marquez is only thirteenth and Baldassarri in the top 10 just behind Sam Lowes.

Moto2 Argentina FP1: Chronos

1	54	Matthias PASINI	Kalex	1'44.461
2	44	Miguel OLIVEIRA	KTM	1'44.631	0.170 / 0.170
3	42	Francesco Bagnaia	Kalex	1'44.736	0.275 / 0.105
4	41	Brad BINDER	KTM	1'44.745	0.284 / 0.009
5	32	Isaac VIÑALES	Kalex	1'44.916	0.455 / 0.171
6	52	Danny Kent	Speed ​​Up	1'44.940	0.479 / 0.024
7	9	Jorge NAVARRO	Kalex	1'44.974	0.513 / 0.034
8	36	Joan Mir	Kalex	1'45.022	0.561 / 0.048
9	22	Sam LOWES	KTM	1'45.048	0.587 / 0.026
10	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	1'45.080	0.619 / 0.032
11	77	Dominique AEGERTER	KTM	1'45.183	0.722 / 0.103
12	97	Xavi VIRGIN	Kalex	1'45.189	0.728 / 0.006
13	73	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	1'45.282	0.821 / 0.093
14	10	Luca MARINI	Kalex	1'45.360	0.899 / 0.078
15	87	Remy GARDNER	Tech 3	1'45.375	0.914 / 0.015
16	62	Stefano MANZI	Suter	1'45.428	0.967 / 0.053
17	40	Hector BARBERA	Kalex	1'45.501	1.040 / 0.073
18	27	Iker LECUONA	KTM	1'45.568	1.107 / 0.067
19	24	Simone COURSES	Kalex	1'45.573	1.112 / 0.005
20	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	1'45.717	1.256 / 0.144
21	13	Roman FENATI	Kalex	1'45.765	1.304 / 0.048
22	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	Speed ​​Up	1'46.021	1.560 / 0.256
23	45	Tetsuit NAGASHIMA	Kalex	1'46.084	1.623 / 0.063
24	16	Joe ROBERTS	NTS	1'46.226	1.765 / 0.142
25	4	Steven ODENDAAL	NTS	1'46.306	1.845 / 0.080
26	5	Andrea LOCATELLI	Kalex	1'46.386	1.925 / 0.080
27	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	Tech 3	1'46.654	2.193 / 0.268
28	63	Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN	Kalex	1'46.815	2.354 / 0.161
29	89	Khairul Idham PAWI	Kalex	1'47.040	2.579 / 0.225
30	51	Eric GRANADO	Suter	1'47.224	2.763 / 0.184
31	21	Federico FULIGNI	Kalex	1'48.757	4.296 / 1.533
32	95	Jules DANILO	Kalex	1'49.104	4.643 / 0.347