A ground-breaking victory for Brad Binder and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing made for an exciting Tissot Sprint at the Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina. An incredible performance from Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) saw him take pole position in a stunning Q2 session after the Spaniard topped Q1, crashed out, and returned to the pits to mount his number two bike after his number one set on fire. Find out more in 10 things you need to know:
1. Alex Marquez took his maiden pole in MotoGP™. This is the second time in a row a rider has qualified on pole via Q1, following his brother Marc last weekend. He finished P5 in the Sprint and will now be aiming to win his first Grand Prix race since he stepped up to MotoGP™ in 2020. So far, he has two premier-class podiums.
2. Now third in the Championship, Bezzecchi has qualified second, which is the third time he has qualified in the top three in MotoGP™. He finished P2 in the Sprint and he will be aiming to take his maiden MotoGP™ win and his third podium in the class on Sunday – as well as his first in back-to-back MotoGP™ races.
3. Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia has qualified third for his second front row of the season. He finished P6 in the Sprint but on Sunday will be aiming to become the first Italian to win the opening two Grand Prix races of a premier class season since Valentino Rossi in 2001. He will also be aiming to take his 13th premier class win to move up to fourth on the list of the most successful Italians, tied with MotoGP™ Legend Max Biaggi.
4. Morbidelli qualified fourth for his best qualifying since he was also fourth at the 2021 French GP. This is the first time he has outqualified teammate Fabio Quartararo since Sepang 2022. He finished P4 in the Sprint and on Sunday will be aiming to take his first podium since Spain in 2021 and first GP win since Valencia 2020.
5. Winner of the MotoGP™ race in Argentina in 2017, Viñales has qualified fifth as the top Aprilia. He finished P7 in the Sprint, again as the top Aprilia. On Sunday, he could make MotoGP™ history by taking a Grand Prix win with a third different factory (after already winning with Suzuki and Yamaha).
6 .Marini qualified P7 for his best qualifying result since he was sixth in Malaysia last year. He finished P3 in the Sprint and on Sunday, he will be aiming to take his first MotoGP™ podium. His best result so far is P4.
7. Second last year in Argentina, Martin qualified P8 which is the first time he missed the top three in qualifying since Japan 2022 when he qualified P5. After finishing eighth in the Sprint, he will be aiming to win a Grand Prix race for the second time in MotoGP™, along with Styria in 2021.
8. Polesitter and winner last year in Argentina, Espargaro qualified P9, which is the first time he has qualified within the top nine since Australia last year when he was fourth. He crashed out of the Sprint and will be aiming to finish on the podium for the first time since Aragon last year (P3). If more than one Aprilia rider finishes on the podium on Sunday, this would be the first time in the premier class.
9. Quartararo joined Q1 for the fifth time since he stepped up in MotoGP™ in 2019, but eventually qualified P10, which is the second successive time he missed out on the front three rows. He scored his first points in Sprint, finishing P9, and will now be aiming to take a Grand Prix win for the first time since Germany last year.
10. Now fourth in the Championship, Binder qualified P15 as the top KTM… and went on to win the second Tissot Sprint in history. On Sunday, he will be aiming to take his third MotoGP™ win along with Czech/2020 and Austria/2021 – and give KTM their first win in Argentina.