(Photo by Augustin Marcarian/Reuters)
History beckoned; and history was made. On his 200th MotoGP™ start, Aleix Espagaro (No. 41 Aprilia Racing) claimed an emotional first victory for himself and Aprilia at the Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina. Aprilia Racing is now premier class race winners and World Championship leaders as we witnessed a spellbinding battle for the win in Termas de Rio Hondo, with Jorge Martin (No. 89 Pramac Racing Ducati) crossing the line in second, less than a second behind Espagaro. Alex Rins (No. 42 Team Suzuki Ecstar) finished third to pick up his first podium of the season. Watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to MotoGP Media)
Happy Tears Everywhere.
By Whit Bazemore
Bend. As drama-filled and emotional as the first two MotoGP races of this 2022 season were, they are nothing compared to the Michelin Argentinian Grand Prix, held in the Northern Argentine city of Termas de Rio Hondo.
The drama (and the emotion) started early in the race week.
First, MotoGP’s prolific winner, six-time Champion Marc Marquez was diagnosed with Diplopia after his horrendous crash the previous weekend in Indonesia. The condition, which affects the nerves of the eye resulting in double vision, is something Marquez has unfortunately experienced twice before, most recently last year from a concussion suffered in a training crash. This episode is reportedly not as severe, but even so, there is no way to race with it, and Marquez was ruled out of the Argentine GP. It’s a serious blow to his Championship effort.
With Valentino Rossi’s retirement, Marquez is the sport’s biggest star, and more than that, an unbelievable talent to watch. He defies physics with his aggressive riding style and his win-at-all-costs approach. Lately, the cost has been high - too high - and with this recurring eye injury, Marquez’s very future in the sport is now being questioned by others, if not by Marquez himself. Well, probably not by Marquez himself, as this is a racer who is perhaps the best example of fearless in the history of all of motorsport. No exaggeration.
After the Marquez news came this: unbelievably, one of the five 747’s MotoGP’s parent company, Dorna Sports, uses to transport this circus around the world, broke down during a refueling stop in Kenya. If that sounds ominous, it was: Kenya is known for many things, but aircraft manufacturing and maintenance is not one of them. A sixth plane was dispatched to Kenya from Europe, only for it to also suffer a mechanical after it arrived to Kenya and parked next to stricken plane number one. Crazy. It sounds like one of the drama-enhanced fabricated episodes from F1’s Drive to Survive, (Max Verstappen’s description, not ours) but this was real. A few teams had all of their gear on the plane, therefore the race weekend could not happen until all the cargo arrived in South America, which it finally did around midnight Friday. Unloading the planes, going through customs, then trucking the gear to the track was a slow process, but the team equipment finally got to the track and the waiting mechanics well before sunrise.
The resulting disruption meant the cancellation of all of Friday’s running with a new Saturday schedule of condensed practice and qualifying - promising even more excitement and drama. And exhausted mechanics, who worked throughout Friday night and Saturday morning prepping the bikes, only to race and qualify all day Saturday. If it reminds anyone of the “good ol’ days” of racing, it probably was similar. Only in today’s world of extreme professionalism, there might not be too many racers left who care to remember those “good ol’ days”: racing hard one day, then driving all night to race hard the next day. Good times, those days. But not quite the same kind of fun these days in Argentina.
Qualifying late Saturday saw Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia get his third-ever pole (his first on the Aprilia since joining the factory six years earlier) and, notably, Aprilia’s first pole since 2000!
Espargaro, who joined Aprilia in 2017 and despite many difficult struggles and almost quitting more than once, played a huge role in helping the team grow from uncompetitive back markers to genuine top-ten contenders last year, with a best result of third at the British GP. This season there was talk of more potential podium finishes, and perhaps the team even being in contention for race wins.
After the Saturday result, suddenly Aleix and Aprilia were the favorites for the win - and not just because of the qualifying result - but more because of the competitive race pace on worn tires during FP2. Aleix was fast and smooth. And hungry. This race was his 200th GP race, with zero wins. It was time, and he could feel it. “It’s my sixth season with Aprilia,” he said after qualifying. “I know how far we’ve come, I know how much I’ve suffered.”
At the start, the young future MotoGP champ, Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati took the lead, with Aleix slotting in behind. The two opened a gap over the rest of the field, which quickly grew to 1.4 seconds at one point.
Martin, the 2018 Moto 3 World Champion, is one of those racers who can simply ride off in the front, and drop everyone. But not this time. Espargaro stayed behind, and looked like he was far from riding on the edge. He looked in control, waiting like a cat hunting a mouse.
With 8 laps to go (of 24) he made a move to out-brake Martin at the end of the back straight, only to out-brake himself (obviously his faster approach speed was due to the slipstream). He lost .4 sec. to Martin, but within a few corners, was back on his tail. This was telling. Espargaro tried again two laps later, with the very same result. Fortunately, he recovered again, and looked very strong. The third attempt proved successful, and it was notable how quickly he opened a small gap over Martin, who is an unbelievably quick rider on a very fast bike.
At this point, it was only Aleix who could beat himself. Martin kept the pressure on, and the suspense was edge-of-your-seat stuff.
Racing is incredibly difficult, as most Autoextremist readers know, and counting down the laps to a first win for a racer who deserved it more than anyone else in the race was nail biting. So many things can happen, and heartbreak seems like a contagious disease in MotoGP these days.
But thankfully, there was no heartbreak today.
Espargaro took the checkered flag for his first win in 200 MotoGP starts, and the first for Aprilia. It was highly emotional. The fact that he fought Martin the entire race (who finished second) was a big moment, too, and added to the specialness of the victory. Martin is Aleix’s protege. At one point, several years ago, when Martin was down and out, Aleix fed the young Martin and put a roof over his head.
Yes, it was an emotional win in a race with lots of drama. And even if the sport’s biggest star is unhealthy, the actual sport itself might be the healthiest it’s ever been. There are many other compelling superstars stepping up to take the limelight, and their stories have real meaning with MotoGP fans around the world. And when Marquez returns, these new superstars will want the glory that comes from beating him.
Next up: Austin, next weekend. Book your flight, be there. Do not miss it.
(Photo by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore https://www.instagram.com/whitbazemore/)
Aleix Espargaro at Circuit of The Americas in 2021.
(Photo by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore https://www.instagram.com/whitbazemore/)
Aleix Espargaro at speed at Circuit of The Americas in 2021.
(Photo by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore https://www.instagram.com/whitbazemore/)
Aleix Espargaro leaning in at Circuit of The Americas in 2021.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Special AE contributor Whit Bazemore, the Renaissance Man and superb photographer is going to be giving us updates and his insider's perspective on the MotoGP season. MotoGP has become my personal favorite form of motorsport, and to have someone with Whit's talent share his visual art and deep knowledge of MotoGP is truly special for us, and we really appreciate it. By the way, you may recognize Whit's last name - Bazemore began making a living from drag racing when he was sixteen years old, and he is a two-time U.S. Nationals winner and still the fifth-fastest Funny Car driver ever at 333.25 MPH.-PMD
(NASCAR)
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) surged to the lead with five laps to go in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway and held on to capture his first victory of the 2022 season. Hamlin had to pass William Byron (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet), which was on a 71-lap lead run, to secure the Toyota Owners 400 checkered flag. The victory marked Hamlin’s fourth at the 0.75-mile track in Virginia, his home state, and his 47th overall in his NASCAR Cup Series career. Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) ultimately pulled through to finish second by 0.552 seconds. Byron dropped to third after 122 total laps led, the second-highest mark. Watch the highlights here. (Thank you to NASCAR Wire Service)