MYOWNRACE
zecchi was charging. Having
disposed of Marini in third, he
closed down Binder's lead at the
front and had three goes at tak-
ing the top spot. But Binder held
firm, taking the most
unlikely of
wins by 0.072 seconds from Bez-
zecchi with Marini 0.8 seconds
behind
in third. Morbidelli held on
for his best ride in years finishing
fourth in front of Alex Marquez,
Bagnaia, Vinales and Jorge
Martin. Fabio Quartararo had
a nightmare in ninth and Jack
Miller rounded out the top 10.
Repsol Honda's Joan Mir
crashed out on the first lap and
suffered a concussion, ruling
him out of further participation
in the Grand Prix.
Binder continued to hold sway
at the front as the battle raged
behind him with Morbidelli, Luca
Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati),
Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Alex Mar
-
quez, the two factory Aprilias
of
Aleix Espargaro and Mav-
erick Vinales and the Pramac
Ducati of
Jorge Martin all taking
chunks out of each other as they
fought for position.
Binder began to edge out a
small gap at the front, and by
four laps to go, Morbidelli still
clung to a possible podium
but Marini was on the charge,
pushing through into second
as Espargaro lost the front and
crashed out at turn seven.
By the last lap, however, Bez
-
ROUND 2 / MARCH 31-APRIL 2, 2023
TERMAS DE RIO HONDO CIRCUIT / SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P74
back]. Luckily I'd realized I'm prob-
ably not going to have them, so I
did brake a bit early. Then I went
into the corner and felt the slightest
little nudge on my inside. It was just
enough for the bike to spin around,
so it is what it is. I picked up the
bike and carried on. It was a f**king
long 25 laps on my own! But we
finished. It would be nice to have
got a point."
There were more surprises as
the man he overtook for the lead
was Monster Energy Yamaha's
Franco Morbidelli, the Italian
having his best ride in several
years as he fights with all he's
got to keep his job for 2024.
Bezzecchi took the
lead at turn one and
never looked back. Here
he leads Alex Marquez,
Pecco Bagnaia and
a revitalized Franco
Morbidelli.
