The Sprint Race has now proved to be a great show and even at Termas de Rio Hondo saw the riders battle it out without any discounts, who rewarded Brad Binder. The South African won the short race in Argentina, however preceding two fiery Italians and great protagonists. Marco Bezzecchi came close to victory, finishing ahead of his teammate Luca Marini, third at the finish line.
The driver from Tavullia took the podium for the first time in 2023, redeeming himself after the disappointing weekend in Portimao, in which he only collected gravel. Started from the seventh box, he immediately moved into the leading positions, fighting for the top 3 and becoming a great protagonist for all 12 laps of the race. The fight was also without discounts with compatriot Franco Morbidelli, reinvigorated at Termas de Rio Hondo and once again among the top positions.
Satisfied with his Saturday Luca Marini, who sings the praises of his opponent but training partner at the Ranch: “It was a good race, it was nice to fight with Franco again and find him up front. He was very fast today, even with Bez and Pecco it was a good battle”. Rider Mooney VR46 was awestruck by the Yamaha’s power.
The steps forward made with the M1 amazed Marini, who found it difficult to overtake Morbidelli in the Sprint Race: “Ah, today the Yamaha was flying! It was impossible to overtake Franco, I only managed to do it when the tire dropped behind him. Every lap I wanted to go a little faster and push a little more because I had it, especially when in the first 6 or 7 laps I still had the tire behind. But on the straight Franco was very strong today, even if I went out a little better I was approaching fourth and fifth gear, but when we put sixth, he was really strong. So it seems that Yamaha has solved its problems”.
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marini, however, prefers to look at himself and at the result obtained today: “I’m especially happy with the start I made, because I knew that starting from 7th, the start and the first two corners would be fundamental. Luckily I managed very well, then in the MotoGP now, if you’re in the top three you do one type of race, from fourth on down everything is much more difficult. So this type of results can only be achieved by working well, always being up front. We have to try to continue like this, I’m also happy to have achieved this type of result after a difficult weekend like that of Portimao”.
Despite the excellent result in the short race, Marini is realistic and doesn’t believe he has the pace to repeat tomorrow, but one can never tell. In fact, according to the Pesaro rider, the Sprint Race is an excellent opportunity to collect data and improve in view of Sunday: “In my opinion, the Sprint Race should be seen from the point of view of studying for the long race on Sunday. You always have to try to collect the data from these 12 laps in order to then be able to improve something for tomorrow’s race, because honestly now I don’t feel fast enough to be able to fight for these positions tomorrow. I think Aprilia, Bezzecchi and Pecco are a step ahead. But after the data and the sensations we had today in the race, we will certainly try to change something, both in the electronics and in the settings, if we have a warm-up with a decent temperature. But now with the format we have, where there’s no more time to do anything, even the Sprint Race becomes an interesting testing ground”.
“I hope it gives me a lot of morale, we’ll see in a few hours and how I wake up tomorrow. For now I’m just happy and can’t wait to go and celebrate with my team. They too worked hard and this podium is theirs too!” concludes Marini.
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