VOL. 53 ISSUE 13 APRIL 5, 2016 P71
Briefly...
gone back to Japan for further devel-
opment."
There was general approval of the
flag-to-flag bike-change decision
on safety grounds, but at least one
rider would have preferred it another
way. "For me personally the flag-to-
flag was not the right decision," said
Rossi, though he added, "For safety,
it was okay. Yamaha never had prob-
lems with the tires, and I was ready
to do the race distance on the soft
tire. So it was a shame that for the
problems of another bike we had to
stop."
Fears that this would be the last Ar-
gentinean GP were laid to rest on
race day, with the announcement
of the renewal of the contract for
another three years for what Dorna
described as "a very successful
event." Agreement was reached be-
tween Dorna, the Argentine minister
of tourism, the local government and
the promoters for at least three more
years at the remote but well-liked
lakeside circuit.
Brad Binder's maiden pole position
in Moto3 was the first in any class for a
South African rider since 1984, when
GP first-timer Mario Rademeyer took
the 250 pole at Kyalami. The last be-
fore that was Kork Ballington, whose
factory Kawasaki was fastest for the
Spanish GP at Jarama. Ballington had
just added second consecutive dou-
ble 250/350 titles to his cabinet—the
last South African champion. Binder
(20) is a fancied title candidate. The
Red Bull KTM rider narrowly lost vic-
tory in Qatar, and said, "I need a good
season, because I've been in Moto3
a long time, and I'm looking to move
up next year."
