Somkiat Chantra had a much tougher Argentine GP than he did on home soil two weeks ago, but he continues to gain experience and hopes to continue his progress in Austin.
For his official MotoGP debut, Somkiat Chantra had lived a waking dream seeing the season open with his home Grand Prix, in Thailand. Boosted by the fervor of his home crowd, he had an encouraging first weekend on a track he knows very well. Things logically got more complicated in Argentina, a circuit that had nevertheless been very successful for him in Moto2, notably with a podium in 2022 as well as two top 10 finishes. But, as we know, the transition to MotoGP is a completely different story.
Qualifying in 19th position, he finished the sprint race in 17th place and was pleased to have been able to maintain the pace of the drivers in front. However, a mistake made during the race prevented him from considering overtaking. “When I started the sprint race I tried to attack from the beginning, to follow the group in front of me and stay with them, but I made a mistake. I couldn’t stop the bike because the rear was sliding a lot and my braking wasn’t very good. I lost contact with the group and after that it was difficult to catch them. Today was about learning and experience.”, he told MotoGP.com.
Sunday's main race, which he judged "very difficult" dashed his hopes of being able to do better. If the first drivers in the field rode in 1'38, the majority were in 1'39, a pace that Somkiat Chantra only managed to hold on for four of the 25 laps. A slight disappointment for him, who crossed the finish line in 18th and last position.
"The race was very difficult for me today because it was hard to manage the rear tire and I couldn't get a good pace. Yesterday my pace was much better, I could ride in 1'39s while today I struggled to ride in 1'39s, I was riding in 1'40s. It was slower and more difficult.", he added. "I wasn't able to fight for the places I wanted. We'll analyze the data in detail and see what we can do to improve this feeling."
The Thai will try to continue his progress at the Grand Prix of the Americas in 15 days on the demanding Austin track.
Results of the Argentine Grand Prix :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
