It is the first victory for Aprilia in the 350th race of the MotoGP era. The Spaniard, who secured the first ever Aprilia pole on Saturday, won ahead of his compatriots Jorge Martin (Ducati) and Alex Rins (Suzuki) and thus also took over the championship lead. KTM rider Brad Binder finished sixth.
Espargaro fought a gripping duel with Martin, who passed the pole man right at the start and was able to defend his lead well afterwards. But five laps before the end, the Aprilia driver managed to counterattack and take the lead. Espargaro couldn’t take the lead anymore, the jubilation in the Aprilia camp was limitless.
For the 32-year-old it was his first victory in his 200th MotoGP race. “I’m very happy. It took so long to finally get to the top. With pole position, I had the ideal starting position. But that also put me under a lot of pressure, because everyone expected victory from me. It’s all the better, that it worked now,” said Espargaro after his triumph. With 45 points, the Spaniard is now seven points ahead of second-placed Binder in the overall standings. “It’s so special, we deserve it,” said the Aprilia man.
Congratulations came immediately from the competition. “I’m really happy for Aleix and his first win. I did my best, I was at the absolute limit,” explained Martin.
World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) only finished eighth. KTM rider Miguel Oliveira, who triumphed in Indonesia two weeks ago, was 13th. As in Indonesia, six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez (Honda) was again absent in Argentina. The Grand Prix turned into a disaster for Honda, the Japanese ended up with no rider in the top ten. The next World Championship race will take place next weekend in Austin/Texas.
Source: Nachrichten
