Dominant Marquez takes first win of 2019 in Argentina

April 1, 2019

A 9.8 second victory for the untouchable Marc Marquez in Argentina as Jorge Lorenzo gains more points and crucial bike time.

Overnight rain in Termas de Rio Hondo didn’t deter the MotoGP field during morning Warm Up, both Repsol Honda Team riders running consistently in the top ten. Marc Marquez again finished on top, Jorge Lorenzo within a second and in 11^thafter the 20-minute session.

Forecasts were all proven wrong as the 25-lap Argentina Grand Prix ran without even a single drop of rain and instead the grid was met with ever-climbing track temperatures. A lightning start saw Marc Marquez convert his pole position into a one second lead after just a single lap, the reigning champion never once looking back. Lap after lap his advantage grew, Marquez over 12 seconds clear before the end of the race. Crossing the line 9.816 seconds ahead of second placed Valentino Rossi, Marquez claimed his first win of the season and his third win at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in untouchable style.

The victory was accompanied by Marquez’s biggest winning margin in a dry MotoGP race, his previous best coming at the 2016 Argentina GP (a gap of 7.679s) and is his 45^thwin in the premier class. Marquez leaves Argentina with 45 points and the championship lead.

Unfortunatley Jorge Lorenzo’s race got off to a difficult start as he dropped down to 21^stfrom 12^thafter trouble getting off the line. However, consistent pace saw Lorenzo quickly return to points scoring positions and run at a pace similar to those fighting towards the front. Crossing the line in 12^th, Lorenzo collects not only more points but also more race time on the Honda.

Honda now moves to the top of the Constructor’s Championship as a result of the victory.

The MotoGP World Championship prepares to travel to Austin, Texas for round three of the 2019 championship at the Red Bull Gran Prix of The Americas, April 12 -14. Marquez has won all six races at the circuit while Jorge Lorenzo has taken a pair of podiums previously.

Marc Marquez – 1st

“Today was a perfect day. I have been so concentrated since FP1 and everything worked well, just a tiny hiccup in FP4. But we kept pushing, pushing and in the I knew that my strongest point was the first five laps. I put everything in and then I saw the difference, one second, two seconds, three seconds and then I settled into my rhythm and pushed a little less. I managed the and the bike, it was a really sweet feeling with the bike.”

Jorge Lorenzo – 12th

“First of all I want to say congratulations to the Repsol Honda Team and Marc Marquez for winning this race. Marc has been fantastic all weekend. In Warm Up we made quite a big step and I was able to be faster and I felt good for the race. Unfortunately we had some very unlucky things happen, at the start I hit the pit limiter and the bike wouldn’t go. When I realised I was at the back so I had to fight through, I was able to move forward but we can’t be happy with this result.”

Argentina Grand Prix Race Results

DRY – Humidity: 75%, Track Temp: 41°C, Air Temp: 27°C
MotoGP 2019 Sunday, March 31st 2019

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	MARQUEZ Marc	93	SPA	25	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	41’43.688
2	ROSSI Valentino	46	ITA	20	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	9.816
3	DOVIZIOSO Andrea	4	ITA	16	Mission Winnow Ducati	Ducati	10.530
4	MILLER Jack	43	AUS	13	Pramac Racing	Ducati	12.140
5	RINS Alex	42	SPA	11	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	12.563
6	PETRUCCI Danilo	9	ITA	10	Mission Winnow Ducati	Ducati	13.750
7	NAKAGAMI Takaaki	30	JPN	9	LCR Honda	Honda	18.160
8	QUARTARARO Fabio	20	FRA	8	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	20.403
9	ESPARGARO Aleix	41	SPA	7	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	25.292
10	ESPARGARO Pol	44	SPA	6	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	25.679
11	OLIVEIRA Miguel	88	POR	5	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	25.855
12	LORENZO Jorge	99	SPA	4	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	27.497
13	CRUTCHLOW Cal	35	GBR	3	LCR Honda	Honda	31.398
14	BAGNAIA Francesco	63	ITA	2	Pramac Racing	Ducati	32.893
15	ZARCO Johann	5	FRA	1	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	33.372
16	SYAHRIN Hafizh	55	MAL	0	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	35.545
17	IANNONE Andrea	29	ITA	0	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	38.238
18	VINALES Maverick	12	SPA	0	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	DNF
19	MORBIDELLI Franco	21	ITA	0	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	DNF
20	MIR Joan	36	SPA	0	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	DNF
21	RABAT Tito	53	SPA	0	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	DNF
22	ABRAHAM Karel	17	CZE	0	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	DNF

Rider Standings

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor
1	MARQUEZ Marc	93	SPA	45	Repsol Honda Team	Honda
2	DOVIZIOSO Andrea	4	ITA	41	Mission Winnow Ducati	Ducati
3	ROSSI Valentino	46	ITA	31	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha
4	RINS Alex	42	SPA	24	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki
5	PETRUCCI Danilo	9	ITA	20	Mission Winnow Ducati	Ducati
6	CRUTCHLOW Cal	35	GBR	19	LCR Honda	Honda
7	NAKAGAMI Takaaki	30	JPN	16	LCR Honda	Honda
8	MILLER Jack	43	AUS	13	Pramac Racing	Ducati
9	ESPARGARO Aleix	41	SPA	13	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia
10	ESPARGARO Pol	44	SPA	10	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
11	VINALES Maverick	12	SPA	9	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha
12	QUARTARARO Fabio	20	FRA	8	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha
13	MIR Joan	36	SPA	8	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki
14	LORENZO Jorge	99	SPA	7	Repsol Honda Team	Honda
15	OLIVEIRA Miguel	88	POR	5	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM
16	MORBIDELLI Franco	21	ITA	5	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha
17	BAGNAIA Francesco	63	ITA	2	Pramac Racing	Ducati
18	ZARCO Johann	5	FRA	2	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
19	IANNONE Andrea	29	ITA	2	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia

Words and Photos: Honda Racing Corporation

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