Red Bull Grand Prix of Argentina 2015
Posted on Apr 13, 2015 by Nick Harris
ROUND THREE 2015 MotoGP™ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - SUNDAY APRIL 19th
Grand Prix racing returned to Argentina last year at the new Termas de Rio Hondo circuit situated 650 miles north west of Buenos Aires. It was an amazing success with over 80,000 arriving from all over South America.
Oxfordshire’s Bradley Smith will also be seeking a Texas repeat after a superb sixth place in the MotoGP™ race on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha. He shares sixth place in the championship with Isle of Man based Midlander Cal Crutchlow who was seventh in Texas riding the CWM LCR Honda. Scott Redding will not be seeking a repeat after crashing on the first lap in Texas while Eugene Laverty seeks his first ever MotoGP points after finishing 16th.
Following their historic double grand prix victories in Texas both Sam Lowes and Danny Kent arrive in Argentina for the third round of the MotoGP World Championship on Sunday brimming with confidence for a repeat show.
Lincolnshire’s Lowes is still battered and bruised from his Texas weekend and that historic maiden Moto2™ victory riding for the Speed Up team. Wiltshire’s Kent is leading the Moto3™ World Championship after his win and third place in the opening two rounds riding the Leopard Racing Honda.
Scotsman John McPhee has made a really solid start to his Moto3 campaign on the Racing Steps Foundation SAXONPRINT RTG Honda. He’s sixth in the championship standings after two rounds, 20 points behind Kent.
Marquez eyes Rossi's championship lead in Argentina
Fresh from his Texas win world champion Marc Marquez eyes Valentino Rossi‘s five point MotoGP Championship lead at the third round, the Red Bull Grand Prix of Argentina on Sunday.
The 22 year old Repsol Honda rider won the very first race at the brand new 2.986 miles Termas De Rio Hondo last year and arrives full of confidence after his first victory of the season although the 21 lap race promises to be another big test against the Italian duo of Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso.
Rossi leads Dovizioso by a single point in the title chase after a win in Qatar and third in Texas on the Movistar Yamaha while Dovizioso's two second places have given Ducati great hope of their first grand prix win for nearly five years. Throw in their team-mates Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone it promises to be a hard fought encounter on the new circuit which proved such a big hit with the riders last year. Hiroshi Aoyama will continue to replace the injured Dani Pedrosa at Repsol Honda.
Bradley Smith shares the lead in the Satellite Team's battle with Cal Crutchlow after his sixth place in Texas riding the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, while his team-mate Pol Espargaro will look to get back to points scoring ways after crashing on the first lap in Texas following a collision with Scott Redding.
Alex Rins leads the Moto2 World Championship by a single point in his debut season from Frenchman Johann Zarco with the two grand prix winners Jonas Folger and Sam Lowes sharing third, just three points adrift. World Champion Tito Rabat has had a tough defence to his title. The Spanish Marc VDS rider lies tenth after his fourth place in Texas.
It’s a different story in Moto3 where Texas winner Danny Kent has opened an eight point lead over Italian teenager Enea Bastianini. Fifteen-year-old Frenchman Fabio Quartararo and the experienced Efren Vazquez share third with former leader Alexis Masbou slipping to fifth after crashing on the last corner in Texas.
Argentina Admissions
• This year’s event at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit is the 12th motorcycle grand prix to be held in Argentina.
• The first Argentinean GP took place in 1961 and was held in Buenos Aires; the first time that a grand prix had taken place outside of Europe. Not all of the top riders attended the event and the 52 lap, 203 km, 500cc race was won by home rider Jorge Kissling (Matchless) from fellow countryman Juan Carlos Salatino (Norton). In the 125cc class, championship contender Ernst Degner from East Germany did not start the race, which was won by Australian Tom Phillis, resulting in Phillis taking the world title – the first for Honda in the 125cc category.
• This is the second year that the Argentinean GP has taken place at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. All of the ten previous grand prix in Argentina had taken place in Buenos Aires, the last of which was in 1999.
• Last year the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit became the 26th different venue to host a MotoGP race since the category was introduced in 2002, and Argentina became the 18th different country to host a MotoGP race during this same period.
• Three riders from Argentina have won grand prix races; Sebastian Porto (seven wins in the 250cc class), Benedicto Caldarella and Jorge Kissling who both had single victories in the 500cc class.
• The last GP win by an Argentinean rider was in the 250cc class at the Dutch TT in 2005, when Sebastian Porto won the race from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.
• Three of the current full-time grand prix riders have raced in grand prix in Argentina prior to last year: Valentino Rossi, Marco Melandri and Anthony West. Rossi won the 250cc race in 1998 & was third in 1999; Melandri finished second in the 125cc race in 1998 and won in 1999; Anthony West finished 8th in the 250cc race in 1999.
• In 1962 the 250cc GP in Argentina was won by Arthur Wheeler at the age of forty six – the oldest rider to win a grand prix race and the last of Moto Guzzi’s forty five GP wins.
• In 1963 Mike Hailwood raced in Argentina for the first time on the factory MV Agusta and dominated the 500cc race by lapping all other riders and finishing six laps in front of the rider finishing in sixth place.
• The Argentinean GP last year was the first GP event to be held in South America for ten years – since the Rio GP of 2004.
Television Times
BT Sport2
Friday April 17th 7am – 2pm (practice)
Saturday April 18th 7am – 2.30pm (Practice and qualifying)
Sunday April 19th 7.30am – 9.50am (Warm –ups) 10.30am – 4.00am (races)
ITV 4 Highlights
Monday April 20th 8.00pm – 9.00pm