ROUND 2 / MARCH 31-APRIL 2, 2023
TERMAS DE RIO HONDO CIRCUIT / SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P72
72 MARCO BEZZECCHI
2ND/1ST MOTOGP
"I didn't expect this when I left home,"
Bezzecchi said. "As soon as I started
riding here I felt very well and I was at
one with my bike. I felt incredibly well
since the first moment and yesterday
was also very nice so when I saw the
rain this morning I was really sad be-
cause I said 'no! I was so good in the
dry, for sure it will be difficult in the
wet.' But when I jumped on the bike in
warmup it was amazing. I started be-
lieving again and thought I could do
this. I enjoyed riding and was really,
really focused. Everything went well.
It was a long journey."
1 FRANCESCO BAGNAIA
6TH/DNF MOTOGP
"I crashed. I'm very upset, sincerely,"
Bagnaia said. "I had this kind of crash
that you don't understand. Sometimes
you crash and you don't know why,
and these are the most difficult to
understand, the most difficult to learn
from. In those 16 laps I did the same
maneuver but in this lap, I crashed.
It's also not a normal crash, because
normally when you lose the front, it's
because you braked too much or you
released the brakes too early. Today
MYOWNRACE
(Right) Brad Binder (33) put on a heroic ride in the Sprint Race to
take an unlikely victory ahead of Bezzecchi (72) and Marini (10).
SPRINT RACE
Before all that, however,
the Sprint Race was on the
cards. 12 laps around the
2.9-mile Termas De Rio
Hondo Circuit, but held in
much better conditions than
what the riders would face in
the Sunday Grand Prix, and
it was Alex Marquez (Gresini
Ducati) who had mastered
the tricky conditions in quali
-
fying by putting slicks on at
the last minute to grab pole
position.
No one was looking past
the first two rows of the grid
for a winner. Certainly, no
one was looking at the rider
in 15th place on the grid, Red
Bull KTM's Brad Binder. All
except Binder himself.
The South African rocketed
out of the gates to pick up a
massive nine places by turn
one. By halfway around the
second lap, he was up to sec
-
ond place, and by lap four he
was in the lead after putting on
a clinic of MotoGP overtaking.
