With the new MotoGP format, the duration of the Warm-Up has been reduced to just 10 minutes, but never before could the Sunday session prove to be truly precious as today. It’s raining on Termas de Rio Hondo and this was the only session with the track completely wet, so it could give excellent indications if it will still be like this when the Argentine Grand Prix gets underway, when it will be 7 pm in Italy.
After both hoisting themselves onto the podium in yesterday’s Sprint, the two riders of the Mooney VR46 placed their Ducatis in front of everyone even in the pouring rain. The fastest was Marco Bezzecchi, credited with a time of 1’45″354, thanks to which he outdistanced his box mate Luca Marini by a good 409 thousandths.
In the wet, a condition always particularly friendly to him, Jack Miller came out again, third at 0.521 seconds with his KTM. The Australian seems intent on trying to respond to Brad Binder, after the neighbor in the box yesterday imposed himself in the Sprint. The South African didn’t particularly shine this morning, finishing 15th at 2″5.
The good news is that the Italian riders are all in the positions that count, because Fabio di Giannantonio is in fourth, albeit over eight tenths behind. A few thousandths further back, Franco Morbidelli confirmed the excellent feeling with his Yamaha in all conditions on the Argentine track. In seventh position is the world champion Pecco Bagnaia, 1″2 behind his Ducati and just 14 thousandths behind Takaaki Nakagami’s Honda LCR.
Rounding out the top ten are Augusto Fernandez’s GasGas, the Yamaha of a Fabio Quartararo who is always a bit in the shade this weekend and Raul Fernandez’s Aprilia. The two official RS-GPs are a bit missing, and after dominating Friday’s day in the dry they seem to suffer from the most critical conditions: Aleix Espargaro is 14th at 1″7, while Maverick Vinales is even 2 “6 in 16th position. Curiously, behind him there is only the Ducati of poleman Alex Marquez, however slowed down by a puncture.
Forced to forfeit instead Joan Mir, who was declared unfit after the head injury remedied in the accident on the first lap of yesterday’s Sprint. This means that, also thanks to the absence of Marc Marquez, the official Honda team will not have any riders on track in today’s race.
#MotoGP #Termas #WarmUp #Bezzecchi #Marini #shine #wet