Johann Zarco turned the tables on polesitter Sam Lowes to claim victory in a closely fought Argentine Grand Prix at Termas de Rio Hondo. Lowes had snatched pole position in the dying seconds of qualifying yesterday but Zarco showed his class on race day, passing the Briton ten laps from home and controlling the race from there.
With damp patches at several corners, conditions were tricky for the riders and early leader Jonas Folger found that out on lap three, sliding wide and letting Lowes through. The Federal Oil Gresini rider couldn’t break away from the German though and would soon come under pressure from Zarco with the Frenchman diving past Folger for second on lap eight, followed through by Franco Morbidelli.
The key overtake would come on lap thirteen with Zarco outbraking Lowes at the end of the back straight into turn five. The tight left-hander would prove problematic for Sam six laps later as he plotted a counter-attack, the no.22 catching a damp patch and overshooting the corner. No positions were lost, but any hope of a victory ended there.
Zarco would ultimately ease to victory by 1.3 seconds, setting the fastest lap of the race last time around, with Lowes and Folger completing the podium after a damp patch at turn one brought about Morbidelli’s demise. Alex Rins recovered from a poor qualifying to finish fourth ahead of Dominique Aegerter and Hafizh Syahrin while championship leader Thomas Luthi toiled his way to seventh.
Axel Pons was eighth while Takaaki Nakagami and Mattia Pasini rounded out the top ten.
Moto2 Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina (Race Result)
| Pos | Rider | Constructor | Team | Time/Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5. Johann Zarco | Kalex | Ajo Motorsport | 40:57.806 | 25 |
| 2 | 22. Sam Lowes | Kalex | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | +1.347 | 20 |
| 3 | 94. Jonas Folger | Kalex | Dynavolt Intact GP | +2.754 | 16 |
| 4 | 40. Alex Rins | Kalex | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | +6.101 | 13 |
| 5 | 77. Dominique Aegerter | Kalex | CarXpert Interwetten | +17.384 | 11 |
| 6 | 55. Hafizh Syahrin | Kalex | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | +17.484 | 10 |
| 7 | 12. Thomas Luthi | Kalex | Garage Plus Interwetten | +26.411 | 9 |
| 8 | 49. Axel Pons | Kalex | AGR Team | +31.016 | 8 |
| 9 | 30. Takaaki Nakagami | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | +31.403 | 7 |
| 10 | 54. Mattia Pasini | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | +31.816 | 6 |
| 11 | 23. Marcel Schrotter | Kalex | AGR Team | +32.329 | 5 |
| 12 | 19. Xavier Simeon | Speed Up | QMMF Racing Team | +40.968 | 4 |
| 13 | 7. Lorenzo Baldassarri | Kalex | Forward Team | +47.883 | 3 |
| 14 | 97. Xavi Vierge | Tech 3 | Tech 3 Racing | +56.027 | 2 |
| 15 | 39. Luis Salom | Kalex | SAG Team | +58.278 | 1 |
| 16 | 52. Danny Kent | Kalex | Leopard Racing | +58.437 | |
| 17 | 14. Ratthapark Wilairot | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | +58.615 | |
| 18 | 10. Luca Marini | Kalex | Forward Team | +59.245 | |
| 19 | 60. Julian Simon | Speed Up | QMMF Racing Team | +59.535 | |
| 20 | 24. Simone Corsi | Speed Up | Speed Up | +59.878 | |
| 21 | 44. Miguel Oliveira | Kalex | Leopard Racing | +1:00.406 | |
| 22 | 70. Robin Mulhauser | Kalex | CarXpert Interwetten | +1:09.254 | |
| 23 | 2. Jesko Raffin | Kalex | sports-millions-EMWE-SAG | +1:14.825 | |
| 24 | 32. Isaac Vinales | Tech 3 | Tech 3 Racing | +1:16.792 | |
| 25 | 21. Franco Morbidelli | Kalex | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | +1:41.530 | |
| 26 | 8. Efren Vazquez | Suter | JPMoto Malaysia | +1 Lap | |
| 27 | 33. Alessandro Tonucci | Kalex | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | +1 Lap | |
| NC | 11. Sandro Cortese | Kalex | Dynavolt Intact GP | +11 Laps | |
| NC | 73. Alex Marquez | Kalex | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | +22 Laps | |
| NS | 57. Edgar Pons | Kalex | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | Illness |
