Rio Hondo, Argentina, April 4th 2022 - With practice and qualifying reduced to just one day, the teams and the riders were confronted with a tough challenge at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, that hosted the third round of the season.
Due to logistical problems that meant that the MotoGP teams’ equipment couldn’t be delivered on time, the format of the Argentinean Grand Prix had to be radically revised, with riders having only one day of practice to prepare for the race and qualifying. In these conditions, it was obviously the rookies who suffered the most. Despite that, Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner held their own, the two Elf KTM riders crossing the finish line of the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in sixteenth and seventeenth place. "I was behind Miguel Oliveira for quite a long time and learnt a lot today," commented Fernandez after the race. For his part Gardner explained, “I rode a good first half of the Grand Prix but suffered in the second part."
With three consecutive top eight finishes, Tony Arbolino moves up to sixth place in the Moto2 overall standings. In Argentina, the Elf Marc VDS Team’s Italian rider posted a fine sixth place, finishing just seven seconds behind the winner. Commented Arbolino: "We're still making progress and that's very encouraging for the rest of the season. I'm really happy with the support the team are giving me.” After two good races in Doha and Mandalika, Sam Lowes struggled in Argentina. Tenth at the chequered flag, the Briton never managed to get to fight with the leaders. "The grip was very irregular from one lap to the next," complained the Elf rider. “The fact that we only had one day of testing certainly didn't help us.”
After two top five finishes in Qatar and Indonesia, Deniz Öncü was hoping for better than fourteenth place at the end of the Argentinean Grand Prix. Only sixteenth on the grid, the Elf rider didn’t manage to get any higher than his final finishing position. "I'm angry with myself because I didn't ride the race I was hoping for," he admitted. But by taking two points, Deniz holds on to his fifth place in the overall standings. After his retirement in Mandalika, Adrian Fernandez finished the third race of the season in thirteenth position. Twenty-third on the grid, the Spaniard received a ‘long lap’ penalty which prevented him from getting into the top ten.
| CATEGORY | RIDER | RACE | CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOTOGP |
Remy Gardner |
17th |
22nd (1 point) |
|
Raul Fernandez |
16th |
23rd (0 point) |
|
| MOTO2 |
Sam Lowes |
10th |
5th (35 points) |
|
Tony Arbolino |
6th |
6th (29 points) |
|
| MOTO3 |
Deniz Öncü |
14th |
5th (26 points) |
|
Adrian Fernandez |
13th |
20th (5 points) |
