Argentina Moto3: Suzuki speeds away for wet win

Tatsuki Suzuki mastered the wet weather to come out on top in the Moto3 Argentine Grand Prix.

02 Apr 2023

Diogo Moreira, Tatsuki Suzuki, Andrea Migno, Moto3 race, Argentina MotoGP, 02 April — Diogo Moreira, Tatsuki Suzuki, Andrea Migno, Moto3 race, Argentina MotoGP,…

Tatsuki Suzuki was uncontested out in front in a crash filled second round of the Moto3 championship in Argentina.

With no warm-up in the wet, Moto3 were in at the deep end, straight onto a damp track. With early frontrunner Deniz Oncu crashing out of the lead after a wild few laps, the Leopard rider picked up the challenge.

At one point leading by well over seven seconds as the chaos behind unfolded, the Honda rider picked up his third win - the first since the Andalucian round in 2020 - in calm style.

The eventual gap was 4.571s back to Diogo Moreira. The Brazilian rider made his way cautiously up to second in MotoGP’s South American round after an early run wide forced the MT Helmets - MSI rider worked to work his way back through the top ten.

Replacement impact from Andrea Migno

Andrea Migno made the most of his opportunity to showcase why he deserves a seat back in Moto3 as he took a hard fought third for the CIP Green Power team, staying clear of late crashes from the lead group, the Italian was right behind Moreira in the run to the line as they dropped the other warring contenders for the podium slots.

Scott Ogden had been next to see the chequered flag for VisionTrack, but was awarded a penalty for contact with David Almansa. Almansa was another replacement rider for the round and although Ogden had little room left after being squeezed in the competitive group by Riccardo Rossi, leaving the Spaniard in the gravel still had consequences.

A double long lap equivalent penalty added six seconds to his time, but the gap on track meant that only dropped him to fifth, still a best result for the British rider.

That elevated Daniel Holgado to fourth for Red Bull KTM Tech3.

Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) lead the chasing group over the line. Kaito Toba was next to see the flag in seventh for SIC58 Squadra Corse, holding off Xavier Artigas, who slipped back on the CFMoto Racing PruestelGP bike after slipping off.

Ryuesi Yamanaka (Autosolar GasGas Aspar M3) finished ninth, with David Salvador completing the top ten as top rookie on the second CIP Green Power entry despite having to give back a position in the race for overtaking under yellow flags.

With riders ahead falling away ahead Syaifuddin Azman was able to climb to eleventh, a best finish for the MT Helmets rider.

Matteo Bertelle followed a similar route to rise to a distant twelfth for Rivacold Snipers.

The final points went to Romano Fenati in 13th on the second Snipers entry, Rookie David Alonso (Autosolar GasGas Aspar) in 14th and Joshua Whatley who completed a strong showing for VisionTrack with his first points finish.

David Munoz slid out of contention at the same time as Artigas and remounted for 16th, just missing out on a rewarding finish. Almansa also got back on his CFMoto to cross the line 17th.

Ivan Ortola (19th) and Oncu (24th) were also amongst the finishers despite landing in the gravel over the course of the race.

Polesitter Ayumu Sasaki had set himself the goal to finish in the tricky conditions. Racing with Almansa, after being passed, his return of the move was judged to be too aggressive. Pulling clear in second when the penalty was announced the Japanese rider peeled back to drop a position and be passed by the Spaniard again. Trying to make a gap happen twice saw the Husqvarna rider go too close to the limit, leading to an early exit.

Riccardo Rossi, Mario Aji and Jaume Masia all also failed to go the distance. Masia was in second at the time of his fall, while Rossi had worked his way up to the lead group only to have his bike fold underneath him on the last lap as he hunted for a podium finish.

Injuries and replacements

Lorenzo Fellon missed out on a trip to the Termas track after he re-dislocated his shoulder on the warm up lap in Portimao. The experienced Migno was drafted in to replace him.

The other end of that race had the incident after the chequered flag in which Joel Kelso rode into slowing winner Holgado, he is replaced by Almansa at CFMoto Racing PruestelGP.

Where does that leave the championship?

It is early days in the overall standings, currently lead by Daniel Holgado after his win last time out, with the extra points picked up after Ogden’s penalty leaving him two clear of nearest rival Diogo Moreira, on a total of 38.

Tatsuki Suzuki is third following his win, with a tally of 27 points after two rounds.