Nine pilots gather with ten points on the board, chasing the first solid leader in MotoGP as the weekend shifts to the Argentine Grand Prix at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit.
The Italian rider arrives at this track as the championship leader. Enea Bastianini riding the Ducati Desmosedici GP21 added an eleventh place in Indonesia to his victory in Qatar, maintaining a slim lead albeit by only a couple of points over South Africa’s Brad Binder on the KTM RC 16 and a few more over France’s Fabio Quartararo, the reigning world champion on the Yamaha YZR M1.
Cancellation of training
Logistical hurdles disrupted freight, forcing adjustments to the Argentine GP schedule as the FIM MotoGP world championship adapts to the situation.
Inquiries into the standings for the Motorcycle World Championship are ongoing.
In the week after Indonesia, five cargo flights were planned to move supplies from Lombok to Tucumán near Termas de Río Hondo.
Financial delays lead to Friday changes for the Argentine GP
Two separate issues with the flights push the last cargo arrival to Friday, affecting all World Championship categories and prompting changes to the test day on opening Friday.
Free practice sessions and qualifiers move to Saturday morning, with one Friday session canceled and the other shifted to Saturday, where qualifiers for all categories are also held.
Sunday morning warm-ups are extended, and each race begins at the originally scheduled time.
Breaking: logistics problems alter the Argentina GP schedule, resulting in no action on Friday.
View full program details below. MotoGP | https://t.co/sY3deAle1d
— MotoGP —
Marc Marquez’s Absence
The season features just two Grands Prix so far, rising to a longer calendar of twenty-one races, and the landscape shifts as markets begin to settle. Fabio Quartararo remains in a strong position, climbing to a valuable second place in Indonesia amid challenging weather conditions.
The most striking note is the absence of eight-time world champion Marc Marquez, who rides for Repsol Honda in the RC 213 V. A heavy crash during the warm-up in Mandalika triggered a new period of diplopia for the rider due to nerve issues.
Medical checks ruled out travel to Argentina for now, though there is hopeful evolution in the affected nerve. The plan is to reassess in Austin, should ophthalmological tests come back positive.
In the United States, Marquez would be the track expert, and there is speculation that he might aim for the second American date if his condition permits. If the withdrawal is official, Germany’s Stefan Bradl, the Honda test rider, would likely substitute him.
Pol Espargaró from Repsol Honda steps up to carry the team flag, following a podium and a solid start to the year in Qatar, though a third-place finish in Lusail was followed by a rain-soaked result in Mandalika.
Current world champion Fabio Quartararo aims to confirm the new Yamaha YZR M1’s performance across the American tracks, with careful checks on readiness for the circuits ahead.
Bastianini and Binder: Unknowns Ahead
Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder remain open questions, their results likely swayed by track conditions similar to mandates seen with Miguel Oliveira and his KTM RC 16, who triumphed in rain in Mandalika.
French rider Johann Zarco on the Ducati Desmosedici GP22 has been delivering consistent results, placing him among the top contenders, ahead of Pol Espargaró and the Repsol Honda squad, along with Aleix Espargaró.
The field also includes two Suzuki riders, Alex Rins and Joan Mir, who sit in a position where every calculation is speculative as the championship unfolds. Italian Francesco Bagnaia, part of the Ducati Desmosedici GP21 team, is pursuing strong form, while his teammate Jack Miller endured a challenging start with a mixed Qatar and a rainy Indonesia.
Spanish riders like Maverick Viñales, who left Yamaha in search of a new horizon, are aiming to prove their mettle with the Noale-laden Aprilia RS-GP project. Remy Gardner from Australia and Raul Fernandez from Spain, alongside Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio on the Ducati GP21s, and South Africa’s Darryn Binder on the YZR M1, continue adjusting to a new class with varied sensations.
As the season progresses, every race adds layers to the narrative, testing riders and teams alike on a global stage where precision, consistency, and nerve shape the final outcomes.