MotoGP Argentina FP1 LIVE: Takaaki Nakagami is well healed!

MotoGP returned to Argentina in 2014 after a long 15-year hiatus, with the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in the northern province of Santiago del Estero becoming the host venue for the Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina, a race which had previously been held in Buenos Aires, episodically from 1961 to 1999.

In 125cc, 250cc and 500cc, Marco Melandri, Olivier Jacque et Kenny roberts Jr were the last winners in the Argentine capital, while James Masia, Lorenzo Baldassarri et Marc Marquez remain the latest winners at all, the global pandemic having canceled the trip to South America after the 2019 edition.

Closer to us, the 2022 MotoGP championship remains a very rainy race in Indonesia after its opening in Qatar…

After the sand and the water, it's finally Enea Bastianini who retains the leadership of the championship ahead Brad Binder, fabio quartararo, Miguel Oliveira et Johann zarco in a still very tight top 5. Once again, consistency pays off and, in this regard, Jack Miller and especially Marc Marquez are already paying a heavy price for the various incidents suffered.

Obviously, the big and unfortunate news concerns the package of Marc Marquez experiencing a return of diplopia for an indefinite period. The Honda driver will therefore be absent from the race which will begin Sunday at 20 p.m. (French time) and will take place over 25 laps, replaced by Stefan bradl although it is not legally required before Austin.

Another disturbance of a weekend announced under a blue sky, the plane breakdowns which caused long suspense and upheaval the program.
Finally, the last plane arrived at the airport last night at 22 p.m. local time and, like VR46, Tech3 and Gresini, many had to work all night to be as ready as possible this morning...

Finally, the big question mark concerns the grip of the track, which Michelin et Brembo very tenuous expectations...even if Moto3 and Moto2 immediately achieved very solid times from FP1 despite an extremely dusty track.
In any case, we will have to make do, only with two free practice sessions before the MotoGP qualifications.

While waiting to discover more, as the 24 drivers prepare for this first free practice session extended to 60 minutes, under a clear sky with temperatures of 22° in the air and 34° on the ground, let's take advantage of these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Here are the latest references available:

Argentine GP MotoGP™	2019	2022
FP1	1'39.827 Marc Márquez (See here)	1'39.028 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
FP2	1'39.181 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)
FP3	1'38.471 Marc Máask (See here)	Canceled
FP4	1'39.341 Marc Máask (See here)	Canceled
Q1	1'39.064 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Q2	1'38.304 Marc Márquez (See here)
Warm up	1'39.096 Marc Márquez (See here)
Course	Marquez, Rossi, Dovizioso (See here)
All time lap record	1'37.683 Marc Márquez 2014

When the red lights go out...Franco Morbidelli preserves tradition by setting off first on the track, unlike his teammate Fabio Quartararo which starts last.

In terms of tires, the preference is for the soft at the front and the medium at the rear, despite a few exceptions.

At the end of the first round, Fabio Quartararo registered the first reference in 1'43.224.

In the next passage, Takaaki Nakagami regains the advantage before handing over leadership to Jorge Martin and Alex Espargaro in 1'41.040 in the third flying lap.

alex rins improves to 1'40.667 at the end of the next loop but we are still in a period where the sectors light up red and Brad Binder takes command in 1'40.590 before bowing out in front fabio quartararo  in 1'40.549 at the end of the fifth lap. However, the French driver still concedes 9 km/h less than his competitors in the straight…

When Espargaro Pol tears off a wing of the Ducati Fabio DiGiannantonio...

The times continue to go down, this time under the pressure of Takaaki Nakagami in 1'40.473, at the time when most of the drivers start to return to their boxes after this first run.

The hierarchy is then composed of Takaaki Nakagami before Fabio Quartararo, Brad Binder, Alex Rins, Franco Morbidelli, Aleix Espargaro, Alex Márquez, Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales, Miguel Oliveira, Pol Espargaro, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, Luca Marini, Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Stefan Bradl, Johann Zarco , Remy Gardner, Jack Miller, Raul Fernandez, Darryn Binder, Andrea Dovizioso and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Upon resumption, Brad Binder lowers the reference to 1'40.279 but fabio quartararo, who still hasn't stopped, is the first to cross the 1'40 mark in 1'39.990.

After a rodeo then a lap canceled for having crossed the limits of the track, Jack Miller is positioned second, 2/10 behind the Frenchman's Yamaha.

Andrea Dovizioso swapped his hard rear tire for a medium and moved up to 12th position.

Halfway through the session, alex rins is positioned third in a top 10 now made up of Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Brad Binder, Pol Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli, Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales, Takaaki Nakagmi and Francesco Bagnaia.

In the process, we are witnessing an Aprilia offensive, with first of all Maverick Vinales who takes provisional second place, then Alex Espargaro which climbs straight to the top of the table in 1'39.847!
The Granollers driver then improved to 1'39.745 then 1'39.509, a time faster than that of FP1 in 2019, with 22 minutes still remaining in the session.

Conversely, Johann zarco appears to be struggling at the moment, in 22nd position…

While waiting to switch to the soft rear tires, everyone is now using a medium, while eight riders are trying the hard front tire.

A good quarter of an hour before the checkered flag, Alex Rins moves back into second position, John Zarco in 14th then provisional 8th place.

After another stop, Takaaki Nakagami is the first to come out with a soft rear tire, while Johann zarco (Mid rear) joins the provisional Top 5 in mid rear.

Two minutes later, the rear soft tires start to come out everywhere while Takaaki Naqkagami achieves 1'39.486.

Six minutes from the end of the session, things are speeding up, as evidenced by the sectors lighting up red.
Fabio Quartararo, in the rear stretch, first slams a 1'39.216! The Devil continues his effort in 1'39.155.

For accessits, alex rins positions itself second, Brad Binder third, Marco Bezzecchi sixth but things are changing all the time and we are still improving certain sectors…

The VR46 Rookie then climbs into second position aboard his 2021 Ducati Desmosedici!

Takaaki Nakagami, who almost did not participate in this Grand Prix due to covid-19 positivity, regained the advantage in the last lap in 1'39.028.

Enough to boil a Marc Marquez who watches the tests from home…

For the time being, Takaaki Nakagami, Fabio Quartararo, Pol Espargaro, Aleix Espargaro, Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira, Maverick Vinales, Brad Binder and Joan Mir are therefore pre-qualified for Q2, which is reassuring for the reigning world champion on a circuit with little grip...

Results of FP1 of the MotoGP Argentine Grand Prix at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com