What a weekend and where to start? Brad Binder? Franco Morbidelli? Marco Bezzecchi? VR46? Overtaking? Repsol Honda? Factory Ducati? The problem with race weekends such as the one we just had in Argentina is that there is almost too much to talk about. But, if we look behind the headlines, the one thing that immediately springs to mind is the nonsense that the racing made of the pre-season worry that the Ducatis would be all-but uncatchable and overtaking would be well-nigh impossible.
Sure, Ducatis finished in the top three places in the main race – satellite team Ducatis at that – but it was by no means a foregone conclusion. Well, maybe first place was but, given the conditions and the relative inexperience of Marco Bezzecchi, his finishing the race while setting such a blistering pace on a treacherous track was by no means a given, especially after we saw Bagnaia on the sole factory Ducati throw it up the road while trying to match Bezzecchi’s pace.
First, however, we have to talk about Brad Binder. Where the hell did that come from? Actually, no, that’s unfair. He’s got the talent, no question of that, but so often his race is hampered by poor qualifying performance, as indeed it was in Argentina. Fifteenth on the grid, somehow he was in the top six after the first corner and in first place by lap three, looking as calm and collected as you like. And there he stayed to the flag, despite huge pressure from Bezzecchi. Naysayers will say, “One more lap – one more corner, even – and Bezzecchi would have had it.” But there wasn’t one more corner, was there? Binder played it beautifully and the only sad note is that the win won’t be recorded as a MotoGP race win, even though it fully deserves to be.
Talking in the crash.net podcast, the website’s MotoGP editor Peter McLaren got it exactly right when he said the following:
“I just can’t get my head around the fact that Binder didn’t officially win on the weekend. If you look at Brad Binder’s stats, he still hasn’t won a MotoGP race since 2021 because the Sprint doesn’t count. It just seems a bit weird and a bit artificial to me.”
“Then you had Sunday’s Moto2 race reduced to 14 laps due to the weather. Just two laps more than the MotoGP Sprint. So Tony Arbolino was a Grand Prix winner over 14 laps in Moto2, but Brad Binder wasn’t a Grand Prix winner over 12 laps in MotoGP.”
“I hope that will change. It wasn’t really an issue in Portimao because Francesco Bagnaia won both races, but whenever we get an unexpected winner – as Binder was from 15th – or a first-time winner in a Sprint, it’ll really stand out. World Superbike includes all three of its races as wins.”
“I know including Sprints in the MotoGP win statistics would mean all-time records are slanted in favour of the present grid, with 42 races in a season. But does that really matter?”
“The record books are far from ‘pure’ anyway because the calendar is so much bigger than it ever used to be, even without Sprints. Riders also no longer enter more than one class at a time, plus there’s been the introduction of flag-to-flag races and short restarted races.”
“The 1961 Argentine 500 cc race at Buenos Aires took one hour and 40 minutes. Other races of that era took over an hour and a half to complete. That’s double a current MotoGP.”
“So even a full MotoGP on a Sunday is a Sprint compared to the old grand prix races. I just think a race is a race. Extend the Sprint to two-thirds distance if needed, so it’s officially long enough for a GP. Give fewer points than on a Sunday if you like but let’s give credit where it’s due and call a win in a MotoGP race, a MotoGP win.”
A pertinent point, well made.
It was a beautiful race by Binder – even if the average age of South African fans increased by several years as a result of the tension – but special mention has to go to Franco Morbidelli. After 18 months of confidence-battering struggles on the factory Yamaha, he qualified fourth, led the race, and finished fourth, while his teammate Quartararo could only qualify tenth and finish ninth. Not only that, but Morbidelli then ran a strong fourth in the main race, which became third when Bagnaia crashed out, only to be relegated to fourth again by the charging Zarco. What was even more significant was that Morbidelli’s Yamaha wasn’t being swallowed up by the chasing Ducatis on the straight. OK, maybe the wet conditions were playing a part but wouldn’t it be great to see the Yamahas – and Morbidelli in particular – running consistently up front at every race?
While we’re talking about Yamaha, spare a thought for poor Quartararo. Qualifying tenth, he was mauled by Nakagami right at the beginning of the race, which dropped him to the back of the chasing pack in 17th. He then staged a pretty impressive comeback to finish seventh, rightly indignant that Nakagami received no penalty whatsoever. I’m not sure the incident warranted a penalty – it could be placed in that bulging file marked “racing incident”, but Quartararo’s contention was one of consistency in race control decisions and you have to acknowledge his point.
Quartararo’s fight back brings up another point: overtaking. It was going on all over the place and these are supposed to be bikes that can’t overtake anymore because of the aero. Binder made up 15 places in the sprint race: DiGianantonio made up nine places early on in the main race: Miller made up ten places to finish sixth: Zarco started in sixth place on the grid but fell back in the early stages and then simply blasted forward to take second at the flag. There was no shortage of action which was just as well as Bezzecchi had disappeared at the front.
The sight of three different satellite team Ducatis on the podium is not only a worry for the rest of the grid but also for the factory Ducati team. Bagnaia can not count on making the same number of mistakes as he did last year and still winning the championship a second time: there are too many hungry riders on his tail. Yes, he won both Sprint and Main race in Portimao and there’s no reason he won’t do it again but don’t forget Bastianini wasn’t there in Portimao or here in Argentina: a fully fit and hungry Bastianini won’t be in the mood to play second fiddle and that will be another headache for the defending champion.
How much was Argentina a freak result because of the absence of some of the main players? Miguel Oliveira, Marc Marquez, Enea Bastianini and Pol Espargaro were already out after Portimao and were joined by Marc Marquez’ teammate Joan Mir after his Argentina Sprint race lap one crash. If their absence added to the unpredictability of the race then we have to be callously thankful but it doesn’t take a crystal ball to imagine that’s what the grid could look like in the future should any of the remaining manufacturers pull out just as Suzuki did. It doesn’t bear thinking about but it is a reality that Dorna has to be mindful of preventing.
We couldn’t end this summary of the Argentina race weekend without reflecting on the hero-to-zero plight of Brad Binder. One of the most masterful demonstrations of riding skill in the Sprint race and then ignominiously crashing out on the first lap in the main race and riding a lonely race to last place.
Brad Binder commented: “I got past a few guys early on but had a touch with somebody coming out of turn 3 (onto the straight), lost two of my wings, and had quite a big shake. Then I got to the next corner and when I pulled my front brake, it pulled into my fingers.”
“I pumped it a little bit (and the brake pads came back). Luckily I’d realized I’m probably not going to have them, so I did brake a bit early. Then I went into the corner and felt the slightest little nudge on my inside…”
“It was just enough for the bike to spin around, so it is what it is. I picked up the bike and carried on. It was a f**king long 25 laps on my own! But we finished. It would be nice to have gotten a point.”
It would have been nice to see Binder repeat his Sprint race form and at least fight at the sharp end. But that’s the unpredictability of racing and, alongside Miller’s form in the Portimao main race, it was yet another indication that we really shouldn’t take any notice of pre-season testing results. I doubt we’ll learn. Let’s hope the rest of the season is just as unpredictable.
