It was an all-Ducati podium at Termas de Rio Hondo, round two of this season’s MotoGP world championships in Arrgentina at the weekend.
Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Racing Team) took first MotoGP win ahead of French rider Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Spaniard Alex Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) at the Grand Prix of Argentina, the second round of the 2023 MotoGP season, which unfortunately also produced a sad ending for Italy’s defending world champion Francesco Bagnaia, who finished the race only 16th.
Despite the tricky track conditions with the rain and the wet asphalt, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider managed to get off the line well, maintaining third position. Having recovered the gap on Alex Márquez, who was ahead of him, Bagnaia finally managed to overtake him, but he ran into a crash with eight laps to go. Bagnaia immediately rejoined the race but could only finish in 16th place.
After the Argentine race, Bagnaia is second in the overall standings, which sees Bezzecchi in the lead, followed by fellow Ducati riders Zarco (third) and Alex Márquez (fourth).
Francesco Bagnaia: “It was a complicated weekend, but in the race, we had managed to be competitive and fight for the podium. Marco was really fast today, and I would have been happy to end the weekend with second place, but unfortunately, I crashed.
“I apologize to my team, who did a great job throughout the weekend. Now I will focus already on Austin, where we will try to redeem ourselves.”
The racers will be back on track from 14th-16th April at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, USA, for the GP of the Americas.
Photo courtesy Ducati
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2023 MotoGP World Champs standings after round two:
| Position | Entrant | Wins | Points |
| 1 | Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team (GP22) | 1 | 50.00 |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team (GP23) | 2 | 41.00 |
| 3 | Johann Zarco Prima Pramac Racing (GP23) | 35.00 | |
| 4 | Alex Marquez Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP22) | 33.00 | |
| 5 | Maverick Vinales Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 32.00 | |
| 6 | Jack Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) | 25.00 | |
| 7 | Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) | 1 | 22.00 |
| 8 | Jorge Martin Prima Pramac Racing (GP23) | 22.00 | |
| 9 | Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) | 21.00 | |
| 10 | Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) | 18.00 | |
| 11 | Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team (GP22) | 15.00 | |
| 12 | Alex Rins LCR Honda CASTROL (RC213V) | 13.00 | |
| 13 | Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 12.00 | |
| 14 | Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 (RC16) | 8.00 | |
| 15 | Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) | 7.00 | |
| 16 | Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU (RC213V) | 7.00 | |
| 17 | Fabio di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP22) | 6.00 | |
| 18 | Joan Mir Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) | 5.00 | |
| 19 | Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team (RS-GP22) | 3.00 | |
| 20 | Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team (RS-GP22) | 2.00 | |
| 21 | Pol Espargaro GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 (RC16) | 0.00 | |
| 22 | Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo Team (GP23) | 0.00 |