MotoGP riders and Team Managers reflect on Argentine Sprint Race – Moto2/3 QP

MotoGP 2025

Round Two – Argentina – Termas de Rio Hondo
Saturday Sprint Round Up / Results

Marc Márquez – P1

“I was expecting this type of race today. I knew Alex (Márquez) was very competitive and he pushed me to the limit until the end. In the final laps, with the grip fading, I pushed a bit more because I saw the conditions were good, but tomorrow’s race will be a long one and I expect a very competitive Alex, and Pecco always makes a step forward on Sunday. I feel fast with the medium tyre, but we still need to decide which tyre to use; we’ll check the data to understand the actual drop of the soft tyre and then we’ll choose. A good start will be crucial, and we’ll need to manage the tyre wear, especially in the left-hand corners where there are more bumps.”

Alex Márquez – P2

“We had a great Saturday. I feel very good at this circuit and today, more than ever before, we were close to Marc. We’re not close enough to take a shot, but we were a lot further ahead compared to Thailand. We have the pace and we’re consistent, it was important to start this way also here and we did it. To get closer to the lead we surely need to improve a turn five.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P3

“I felt better and the result had a better taste, as I haven’t always felt comfortable at this track. In the end, third place is a good result. We know we need something more but we’re narrowing the gap down to the two ahead, so we need to continue in this direction. It’s clear where we’re losing time, specifically at turns six and eleven, and now we need to make a step forward ahead of tomorrow, but we remain calm and collected.”

Johann Zarco – P4

“Taking third in qualifying was amazing. After that, I believed the podium was possible, and indeed it was. The start of the Sprint wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad either. Even though I was in 6th, I managed to overtake some strong riders, and that’s important. That was positive. I expected to have a better pace than Pecco, but it wasn’t enough. In the final laps, the top three were strong, but I think tomorrow, with a different tyre choice, I’ll have more chances. Let’s see. I’m enjoying this weekend, and I’d like to thank the team, the sponsors, and everyone supporting us!”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P5

“It was a good day, even though I expected more after yesterday’s performance. But we are happy because we did a good job, we are improving together the feeling with the bike. In the Sprint, I wanted to push harder in the first laps to set my pace, but we must be happy, a P5 in our second Saturday race is a great result. I’m still struggling physically, but the potential is huge and we are there, we’ll give it another go tomorrow.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P6

“In Q2, I gave 100 percent to achieve a good time, but we are struggling a bit with instability on the new tyres. Starting from the ninth spot is never ideal, but we still need to get better at qualifying. During the sprint race, I was strong in braking, which allowed me to overtake well. I’m still lacking a bit to get close to the leaders, but we are improving and I’m confident that we’ll get better and better.”

Franco Morbidelli – P7

“The Sprint was positive despite a bad start. I recovered some places, but when I arrived to the top five I couldn’t attack. Still, I got valuable points and important data for tomorrow’s race. I’m not feeling well physically, with some nausea and headache. I will rest today to recover and be in better shape tomorrow.”

Joan Mir – P8

“Solid. Solid race. I think this was the best result we could have achieved today. I only had one tyre when we arrived in Q2, so we have to be happy with what we did there to get tenth. In the Sprint I was able to be competitive and overtake a lot of riders. I knew I had some more pace than them coming into the Sprint. There are still some points, especially on exit, that we can improve more. Already we have made progress inside this weekend but always you want more as a rider! I think that we can take even more from the longer race.”

Pedro Acosta – P9

“Difficult to understand the Sprint today. We need to work out how to put more traction and drive on the ground. We made a good start today and didn’t lose positions in the first laps. We are spinning too much but, well, we finished the race, took a point and can now look to the next one. We need to make a step.”

Fabio Quartararo – P10

“I pushed hard in the first laps, but the pace dropped a lot in the second part of the Sprint. But on one lap I was quite good this morning. I expected it to be the other way round: a faster race pace and a slower time attack. The Sprint felt quite long in these conditions, so for sure the Race will be very long. Let’s see tomorrow after Warm Up when we will try the medium tyre. Let’s try to give it our best!”

Jack Miller – P11

“I got off to a decent start, but by the time I reached the first corner, there was complete chaos. Bezzecchi started quite slow, losing positions, which created even more confusion as everyone tried to avoid him. So, it wasn‘t an easy start to the Sprint Race, but we managed to fight and recover a little bit. I struggled a bit in the beginning with the right side of the tire, so I tried to bring the temperature up gradually. When I passed Alex (Rins), I thought I could push harder and pull away. The next four or five laps were quite good—I felt I was closing in on the group ahead—but then I had a big moment, and from that point on, my focus was just on finishing the race and gathering as much data as possible for tomorrow‘s Grand Prix. We definitely expected more today. I believe our pace is better than what we showed, and not making it into Q2 certainly didn‘t help. But it‘s not over until it‘s over—we‘ll try again tomorrow.”

Alex Rins – P12

“I gave it my maximum. The lack of grip is limiting us. We can do one crazy good lap, but the pace is difficult to maintain, and the drop is quite severe. We are gathering information, and the guys in the box are working on it.  I’m riding with a special helmet this weekend. I tried to find a good design to represent Argentina, and I’m happy that the local fans seem to like it.”

Luca Marini – P13

“I made a good start to the race and was able to gain a little bit. It’s very tight in MotoGP so when you are further back, you need to do everything well from the first moment. Today was a bit less than we were expecting speaking honestly. Both in Qualifying and the race, I was hoping for more, but we are looking for grip in the rear. We need to check it overnight and find a solution for the Warm Up. The results of Mir and Zarco show the progress we are making.”

Enea Bastianini – P14

“With already a first sprint experience in Thailand, I arrived at this one with much more confidence for sure. We have suffered quite a lot on Friday and this morning in the qualifying, so our grid position was bad, and I did as much as I could on the 12 laps. We’ll see if we can do more on the long distance. However, at the moment, I don’t really feel the bike, so head down, and we have a lot of work to do to catch up with the front, because I don’t like being behind.”

Ai Ogura – P15

“In Qualifying in some parts of the track I improved a little bit from yesterday, but it wasn’t enough for Q2 and then I had a crash in Q1. In the Sprint race, the bike felt ok, but I had a bad start and in the first few corners I couldn’t gain any positions. After, I did another two or three mistakes, which were quite big. Then I was coming back to my rhythm but it wasn’t really fantastic. I gained a couple of positions but it was a difficult race and a difficult Qualifying. However, tomorrow there is another race with a much longer distance, so I’m looking forward to race tomorrow.”

Raul Fernandez – P16

“It seems this is the weekend nothing works on the bike. We tried a lot of different settings, everything, but I didn’t feel good. For example, this morning, we improved the problem that I had yesterday in terms of sliding and the pace was quite good but we couldn’t stop the bike. I feel this is the track where we need to find a balance and compromise on braking and acceleration. But if we improve one thing, we lose in another area and in the Sprint, it was again almost the opposite thing. We need to work and try to find something because when you have this kind of weekend, you can improve a lot though. In terms of pace, we need six, seven tenths per lap, which we won’t find easily, but if we can make up three or four tenths, this would already help a lot. This is the main goal for tomorrow. We keep doing the maximum.”

Somkiat Chantra – P17

“The Sprint race was demanding, but I was able to stay with the group. In the final stages, I made a mistake and lost some distance. On the last lap, I tried to catch up, but it was difficult. We need to improve, but tomorrow, I think there’s a good chance to do better.”

Maverick Viñales – P18

“It has been a day of learning for sure. We have tried many changes on the bike this weekend, so every session was very different, it was hard to find a good feeling. In the sprint, it took me a few laps to get used to the bike set up, and you don’t have 5 laps to waste in a sprint race. I think that we need to regroup a little bit, gather all the information we’ve acquired from the pre-season until now, to try to just ride the bike, and try getting that feeling that I am lacking at the moment.”

Fermin Aldeguer – P19

“I’d like first of all to apologise to Miguel: I tried to overtake him and ended up losing the front and hit him. I obviously accept the penalty by race direction and look forward to tomorrow’s race with confidence. Today we had a good rhythm, already from the morning. After the crash I lapped consistently in the 38.5/6 and we could have been in the points with a better qualifying result. We’ll try again tomorrow, if the long lap allows.”

Lorenzo Savadori – DNF

“I dislocated my shoulder in Q1 right on the first lap. The bike lurched, but fortunately I didn’t crash. Unfortunately, the consequence was a sub-dislocation to my left shoulder. I tried to give it my all, but I was unable to ride in qualifying and in the sprint race.”

Miguel Oliveira – DNF

“Unfortunately, I had a bad crash at the beginning of lap 5. Going into Turn 2, another rider attempted to pass me by going too far inside the curb, lost control of his bike, and ended up hitting the rear of mine in a classic domino effect, sending me to the ground. I‘m disappointed that I wasn‘t able to finish the race: even though scoring points in this Sprint Race would have been difficult, we could have gathered valuable data for tomorrow‘s Grand Prix. However, I‘m more relieved that, despite it being a nasty crash, I didn‘t suffer any serious injuries. The medical examinations ruled out any fractures, though I have a large hematoma in the sternoclavicular area, and overall, my whole body is feeling sore right now. I‘m now focusing on recovery with the physiotherapists and hoping to get some good rest. Tomorrow morning, we‘ll see how I feel and, after another medical evaluation, determine whether I‘ll be cleared to race.”

Brad Binder – DNF

“Definitely a shorter race than I would have liked. I got an average start and going into Turn 7 I made a position and then on the cutback didn’t know someone was there next to me. We had some contact and the second we touched I lost the front. Not ideal but part of the game and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. I think we’ll be OK in the longer race.”

Team Managers

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“It was a mediocre day for our team: neither great nor bad. Having both riders in Q2 was helpful, especially for Fabio, who came very close to securing a place on the second row. In the Sprint, he had a good start from P7, and he was right behind the top 3. However, we are still missing something that will allow him to battle and defend his position more effectively. Álex started from P12, and he had a steady race pace overall. For him the same thing rings true: he was able to stay close to Jack Miller but couldn’t overtake in the last laps, so we need to work on this. We will analyse the data carefully and try to make a step for tomorrow’s Race.”

Gino Borsoi – Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“First and foremost, I‘m relieved that Miguel is okay after today‘s crash. He had no responsibility in the incident—he was hit from behind by another rider‘s bike at the start of the Sprint Race. He had made a good start, gaining a few positions, and could have continued his adaptation process to the YZR-M1 alongside the other Yamahas. Hopefully, we‘ll see him on the grid for tomorrow‘s race. As for Jack, unfortunately, missing out on Q2 by such a small margin cost him the opportunity to fight for points. However, he put in a solid performance, which gives him confidence for the Grand Prix. Starting from the fifth row, it will be crucial to get a strong start and make the most of the race.”

Aki Ajo – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“Our general performance here has been a bit better than in Thailand and practice yesterday was promising but we cannot be happy with the Sprint results. We need to analyze what happened to Pedro and that will be important to make decisions for Sunday. Unfortunately, Brad was pushed out by another rider and his race was over before it really began. We’ll keep working and keep pushing and see what more we can do tomorrow and to take from Termas.”

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Aprilia Racing

“Unfortunately, the qualifiers here once again conditioned Marco’s performance in the sprint race. We definitely need to work on qualifying, because when we use the soft tyre in the time-attack, we need to be able to take the bike to the limit without changing the way it behaves. During the sprint race, Marco did well, it’s just a shame he lost ground in the opening laps. In any case, it was a good performance with some nice passes, which also confirm the bike’s potential in one-on-one battle. As for Lorenzo, the problem with his shoulder unfortunately influenced his sprint race. We’ll need to assess his conditions ahead of the long race, because he is struggling to ride, not so much due to the pain, but because of the lack of strength.”

Nicolas Goyon – Tech3 KTM Team Manager

“We have been experiencing a quite difficult weekend so far in Argentina with Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales, and their 14th and 18th positions in the Tissot Sprint are clearly not their targets, and neither ours. The situation is like this at the moment, the adaptation takes time, and we have to see the glass half full. The race pace today was similar to the top KTM of Pedro Acosta, which is a positive for us. At the moment, both our riders are struggling on that one fast-lap, and if you miss qualifying, the weekend becomes much more difficult, so our target is to improve the grid positions. Considering our grid positions, we used the sprint to prepare for tomorrow’s race and we tried a different setting on the bikes. It looks like we found some small things for Sunday, so let’s try to gather all the information, and give it all in the main event!”

Davide Brivio – Trackhouse Aprilia Team Principal

“It was a difficult race for both, Raul and Ai, but we can take a lot away to learn from that. Ai had a difficult start and a little bit tricky first couple of laps. His pace was quite good. I think with a better position at the beginning of the race, he could have stayed closer to the top group in terms of pace. Also, we have something to improve and change on his setting. Hopefully this will bring us some benefits in tomorrow’s race. Raul never felt good on the bike here. He struggled with different things on the bike and we definitely need to improve something on his side as well. For both, Raul and Ai, I think we have some work to do tonight. We will try to improve both of their situations and bring it into tomorrow’s race where the target is to do better.”

MotoGP Sprint Race Report

A second perfect Saturday in a row for Marc Marquez as the Ducati Lenovo Team star again fended off the threat from his brother (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) to win his second Tissot Sprint of the season, this time at the Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) rounded out the rostrum behind the Marquez double-act for the third time in 2025 to pocket more important points, but this time around was even further behind than he had been in Thailand.

Marc Marquez got a perfect launch from pole to grab the holeshot ahead of Alex Marquez, as Bagnaia third early on after Johann Zarco (LCR Honda CASTROL) didn’t get away well from his front row start, to be shuffled back to sixth early on.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) went down on the opening lap after contact with Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), as the former’s team-mate Pedro Acosta climbed up to fourth ahead of the fast starting Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).

Meanwhile, the Marquez brothers were pulling the pin at the front.

On Lap 4 of 12, Alex was two-tenths behind Marc, while Pecco was already more than a second behind the scrap. The 2022 and 2023 MotoGP World Champion was half-a-second ahead of Acosta, who in turn had Zarco on his tail.

At the halfway stage, Alex Marquez wasn’t allowing Marc Marquez to escape. Both were setting 1m37.7s, with Bagnaia also in the 1m37s but a couple of tenths slower per lap at this stage. On the next lap, Bagnaia was back in the 1:38s. The Italian didn’t have any answers to the Marquez duo, so it was a two-horse race for Tissot Sprint victory in Argentina.

With four laps to go, the gap was just under four-tenths. The gap then grew to 0.475s with three laps left, and then it was 0.721s with two laps to go. The fight was now seemingly over, but Alex Marquez was still close enough to keep his sibling sweating.

Sweat he did, but the six-time MotoGP World Champion made zero mistakes on the last lap to bring his Ducati GP25 home for a third win of the season, his second in a row on a Saturday.

Alex Marquez crossed the line 0.903s shy to claim another podium, with Bagnaia forced to settle for third but still racking up good points.

After a sluggish launch from the grid, Zarco picked his way back up to fourth to finish just 1.1s behind Bagnaia. That’s a top Saturday outing for the impressive LCR Honda star who if not for a bad start would have taken it up to Bagnaia for that final step on the rostrum.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) rounded out the top five.

Marco Bezzecchi flew the Aprilia Racing flag in P6, the Italian beat his VR46 Academy stablemate, Morbidelli, by a second. The latter collected P7 in the Sprint, with Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) claiming two Sprint points in P8 after a late move on Acosta as the KTM rider dropped to P9 after a bright opening few laps.

Quartararo also steadily dropped back through the field as the race wore on, just missing out on the points in tenth, taking the flag three-seconds clear of Yamaha stablemates Jack Miller and Alex Rins.

MotoGP Argentina Sprint Race Results

Argentine MotoGP Qualifying Times

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2

Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) has continued his stunning start to 2025 as he takes pole in Argentina, edging out Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing). With some Thai GP frontrunners in Q1 and only some making it through, it was close as ever in the Triumph-powered class.

Manuel Gonzalez – P1

“I’m happy because it was even harder to get pole position today than last time in Thailand. I wasn’t sure if I could do it because Jake Dixon was also very fast today. Also, as always, my bike has to work perfectly for the fast lap so that I can push it to the limit and control it. But in the end, I’m very happy with the lap time I set this afternoon. I lost a bit of time in the first corner, but the rest of the lap was unbelievably great. I was even faster than I expected. Thanks to my crew for giving me a better bike than this morning and yesterday. So, we have made small steps for tomorrow’s race though, it will be a difficult race. But I am confident that we have a really good pace to fight for the win. We will definitely do our best. This track suits my riding style better, it’s easy for me to implement my riding style in these corners. Of course, in Thailand I had the lines, the braking points and everything under control. So, it wasn’t quite as necessary to go to the limit as I do here, because I have to search for the limit much more. But I know where I am, and I can control it. That underlines that we are on a really good path. With this pole position, we go into race day stronger and will once again show our potential. We will definitely give it a go tomorrow.”

There were plenty of fast faces not often in Q1 who had their eye on a place in the pole shootout. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) led much of the session before Celestino Vietti (Team HDR Heidrun) and then Alex Escrig (KLINT Forward Factory Team) pipped him. That put more at risk of not moving through and late on, the Turkish rider was denied the chance as Brazilian Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) and Czech rider Filip Salač (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) just edged him out.

After the first runs it was Gonzalez leading the way ahead of Dixon, with Vietti, Ramirez and Moreira next up. But as they headed back out, Dixon improved first to take provisional pole, and then Escrig slotted into second. Gonzalez was on a fast one though and the #18 took it back with just over a minute left on the clock, putting in a 1:40.870. Ramirez then made another move to take over in third, joining Dixon and polesitter Gonzalez on the front row.

Behind that trio, the second row is an all-Q1 affair: Escrig, Moreira and Salač. Alonso Lopez (Team HDR Heidrun) heads Row 3 from Darryn Binder (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), with Vietti in P9. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) completes the top ten.

Senna Agius made great progress from Friday to Saturday, however his eighth place in Q1 was not enough to qualify for Q2. From 22nd on the grid on row eight, the 19-year-old will try to push forwards from the start.

Senna Agius – P22

“We made a very good step this morning, which was underlined by our really strong pace in our long run. I’m really happy with that. Unfortunately, I reached my limit early in Q1 in the afternoon, couldn’t improve and didn’t feel at my best. I tried it again with the second tyre, but I made a mistake and didn’t make it into Q2. I’m quite frustrated about that because I think we would have been able to do that. Still, I think we can do a good job tomorrow, even though we made life pretty tough for ourselves with 22nd on the grid. But we’ll go out there and give it a go no matter what.”

Argentina Moto2 Qualifying Times

Moto3

Matteo Bertelle (LEVELUP-MTA) was a surprise name in Q1 after Friday in Argentina, but the Italian definitely came out swinging on Saturday. He headed Q1 and then went out in Q2 and did it again, so he’ll head the grid for the second time in two Grands Prix. FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI pairing Angel Piqueras and Ryusei Yamanaka complete the front row at the Gran Premio YPF Energia de Argentina.

Ominous raindrops in the air ahead of qualifying made it a tense session but Bertelle got the job done by a stunning margin of 0.462 to head through. He was joined by Marcos Uriarte (GRYD – MLav Racing), Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) and Adrian Cruces (CIP Green Power), with one surprise being Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) as the Italian didn’t make the cut. He gave it a good go though, and on his final fast lap in worsening conditions pulled of a bucking bronco of a save – just losing the chance to move up the order and through to Q2.

The weather held for slicks and another early stunner came in from Bertelle that put the Italian provisional pole, ahead of Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) and rookie Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo). Heading out for their second runs though, drama hit for Rossi as he slid out and collected Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power).

In the meantime, Carpe improved, Thai GP winner Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) likewise, and then Piqueras leapfrogged into second. Friday’s fastest David Almansa (Leopard Racing) then moved into P2 before Piqueras hit back, with Yamanaka the last big mover – up into fourth and then into third on his last lap around.

Behind Bertelle, Piqueras and Yamanaka, Almansa heads Row 2 joined by rookie sensation Carpe and points leader Rueda. Then it’s Rossi, Joel Kelso (LEVELUP – MTA) and home hero Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), with his team-mate Joel Esteban completing the top ten.

Joel Kelso – P8

“Friday and Saturday have been very positive. I feel strong with our pace and confident on the bike. Tomorrow, we will have the challenge of the double long lap penalty, but we will give it our all. We have shown that we are really fast, and here the slipstream can make a difference. I’m happy with the team’s work, and we look ahead with optimism.

Argentina Moto3 Qualifying Times

2025 MotoGP Calendar