Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro won the Argentina 2022 MotoGP race. The 2022 Argentina MotoGP race took place at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit on Monday (4/4/2022). It was the second series in the world championship calendar this season.
Aleix Espargaro, who started the race from pole position, won the MotoGP Argentina 2022 after a fierce duel with Pramac Racing rider Jorge Martin. He was stuck in second place before overtaking Jorge Martin in the last five laps. Thanks to this victory, Aleix Espargaro also successfully made history with Aprilia Racing. This is the first time Aprilia has won in the MotoGP era.
Under the auspices of Aprilia Racing, Aleix Espargaro won his first victory since his debut in the MotoGP premier class in 2009 as many as 200 races ago. This result also saw Aleix Espargaro collect 45 points and made him the first Aprilia rider to top the MotoGP World Championship standings.
Prior to this, the Aprilia rider had never been in the top three of the premier class rider standings. This victory is also the first for Aleix Espargaro in all classes of Grand Prix racing, from 125cc to MotoGP.
The Argentine MotoGP Race
The main race of the Argentina MotoGP 2022 starts on a dry track with asphalt temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius. This situation makes all compact riders use hard front tires and soft rear tires. The Argentine MotoGP race which took place with a distance of 25 rounds was led by Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargarao.
Aleix Espargarao is at the forefront with Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team). When the race started, Jorge Martin, who started from second position, immediately attacked and overtook Aleix Espargarao. Martin also became the leading racer after passing Turn 1 of the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit. He was followed by Aleix Espargaro and Luca Marini who finished second and third respectively.
Jorge Martin was still in the lead when the race entered the second lap. Meanwhile, changes are seen in the third position. The change occurred after the Repsol Honda rider, Pol Espargaro, managed to overtake Luca Marini.
The top three positions, occupied by Jorge Martin, Aleix Espargaro, and Pol Espargaro, lasted until entering the fifth lap. On the sixth lap, Jorge Martin’s teammate at Pramac Racing, namely Johann Zarco, fell at Turn 2. The incident caused the yellow flag to be raised.
Shortly after, Pol Espargaro lost his position after he was overtaken by Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins on the seventh lap. Pol Espargaro also dropped to fourth place, while Alex Rins rose to the top three.
When the competition in the front row began to heat up, Fabio Quartararo as the world champion last season was still struggling outside the top 10. After starting the race from sixth place, he continued to decline until he touched 12th.
The Monster Energy Yamaha racer often duels with the winner of the first series (MotoGP Qatar) Enea Bastianini to re-enter the top 10 positions. Fabio Quartarari is also overshadowed by Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and the winner of the Mandalika MotoGP race, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM).
Returning to the competition in the top three, Jorge Martin as the leader of the race continues to keep his distance. He was 0.716 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Aleix Espargaro, when he entered the 12th lap. On lap 14, Pol Espargaro fell at Turn 2 and could not continue the race. The incident saw all the drivers behind him move up one place, including Fabio Quartararo.
Fabio Quartarari, who was previously in 11th place, automatically rose to 10th. Shortly after, Fabio Quartararo rose to ninth rank. This could not be separated from the mistakes made by Enea Bastianini who widened so that he lost six places.
When the race left eight laps left, the competition in the front position was getting fiercer. Aleix Espargaro started to approach Jorge Martin. In fact, Aleix Espargaro briefly overtook and took pole, but Martin quickly regained his position. The situation of overtaking between Martin happened again when the race only had six laps to go. However, Jorge Martin was again able to secure the position. After the race left five laps, Aleix Espargaro again overtook Jorge Martin.
This time, Jorge Martin has been out of position for a long time. He continued to pursue Jorge Martin to return to the race lead. However, the young Spaniard never reached the pace of Aleix Esparagaro. On the other hand, Aleix Espargaro continued to lead the race until he touched the finish line.
