MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 2 / APRIL 3, 2016
TERMAS DE RÍO HONDO / SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA
P66
MOTO2 ZARCO ZAPS TO WIN ONE
Sam Lowes put his Gresini Kalex on
pole, alongside the Ajo and Dynavolt
Kalexes of champion Johan Zarco and
Jonas Folger, and as at Qatar, it was
Folger who took the lead off the line,
and he held it for two laps.
Then it was turn Lowes' turn, while
Franco Morbidelli (EG Kalex) joined to
make it a quarrelsome quartet.
The track was dry, but there were
streaks of black and slippery patches,
and all four of them survived at least
one scare.
All the while Zarco was biding
his time, and with 10 laps to go, he
eased past Lowes to lead for the first
time. He would never lose it. With a
slip from Lowes with five laps to go
giving him a little breathing space that
he was able to stretch to almost 1.5
seconds over the line.
It was a familiar demonstration
from the Frenchman, celebrated with
a familiar backflip off the tire wall. "I
couldn't know if I could be stronger
than them, but when it was a little bit
more dry, I was more comfortable and
able to use my line."
Lowes and Folger completed the
podium, the German another second
down. It might have been different had
Morbidelli not fallen victim to the noto-
rious turn one on the penultimate lap.
Another six seconds away, a puz-
zlingly off-form Alex Rins (Paginas
Amarillas Kalex) had dropped behind
the storming Dominique Aegerter
(CarXpert Kalex) and Hafizh Syahrin
(Petronas Kalex), only to find his pace
shortly after half distance, repass-
ing both of them in two laps to set
off in hopeless pursuit of the leading
quartet.
Morbidelli's misadventure promoted
him to fourth, well clear of Aegerter
and Syahrin, the pair locked in combat
throughout and just one-tenth apart
over the line.
Qatar winner Thomas Luthi (Ga-
rage Plus Kalex) was a disappointed
Ducati: Italian for teamwork?
