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and Bagnaia would bring home a dream one-two for the VR46 Academy until the number one- plated Ducati of Bagnaia was seen sliding into the gravel trap at the tight penultimate corner with eight laps remaining. The World Champion quickly remounted but his race and title lead had gone up in smoke, Ba - gnaia eventually finishing 16th for no points, one place up on Binder, who had also crashed in the treacherous conditions on lap one and remounted. The man on the move was Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati). The Frenchman worked his way steadily forward in much the same fashion he had in the Portuguese MotoGP a week prior, disposing of Miller, Martin, Morbidelli, and on the last lap, Alex Marquez to take second place at the flag. Bezzecchi rolled over the finish line 4.08 seconds clear for a debut MotoGP win ahead of Zarco, Marquez, Morbidelli, Martin, Miller, Quartararo and Marini. LCR Honda's Alex Rins and Gresini Ducati's Fabio SUNDAY GRAND PRIX The weather that had threat- ened all weekend finally arrived for Sunday, leaving the circuit drenched as Bezzecchi led the field into turn one ahead of Marquez and Bagnaia. Quartararo's weekend went from bad to worse at the tight turn four, where LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami divebombed him and pushed him off the track and down to last position. Quartararo was left fuming at Race Direction's decision not to penalize the Japanese rider, saying, "Nakagami just de - stroyed my race in one corner and doesn't have nothing [pen- alty]. I don't understand what they [Race Direction] are doing, to be honest. The 2021 World Champion would stage a spir- ited comeback, however, taking a fine seventh at the flag. At the front, it was all Bezzec- chi as the MotoGP sophomore began riding away from the field, stretching his lead at one point to a massive six seconds. At one point it was looking like the two great friends Bezzecchi HONDA APPEALS MARQUEZ PENALTY The fallout from Marc Marquez and Miguel Oliveira's collision in Potugal continued in Argentina. First the FIM Stewards handed the #93 a double long-lap penalty which had to be specifically served in Argentina. As Marquez is absent this weekend, recovering from the first metacarpal fracture on his right hand, he could return to Austin and have no penalty to serve. The FIM then amended the penalty on Wednesday when news that Miguel Oliveira would miss Argen- tina was released on Tuesday, stat- ing "the Double Long Lap Penalty shall be served by the Rider at the next MotoGP Race in which he will be able to participate." But Rep- sol Honda countered, launching an appeal, rightly pointing to the dangerous precedent amending a penalty previously set. "That this modification was issued by the FIM two days after the initial sanction was final and definitive, is not in line with the current regulations of the FIM for the MotoGP World Championship," read a team state- ment. Whether it was careless or negligent wording, the FIM now ap- pears set to be left red faced. The FIM Appeal Stewards have now referred the case to the MotoGP Court of Appeal "for the adequate resolution of the case." POL'S RETURN DELAYED Pol Espargaro is recovering well from his horror smash in Portugal but the Catalan faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines as he recov- ers from four fractured vertebrae in his back. "If we want to see the positive side, Pol is going to come back with a possibility to have Briefly... VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P75 Argentina GP Sprint Race