Marc Marquez clinched a resounding MotoGP victory in Argentina, completing dominant back-to-back race victories.
Polesitter Marquez held onto his lead and stayed ahead of his younger brother into Turn 1.
Marco Bezzecchi launched off his Aprilia at Turn 1, which resulted in a retirement, ending a torrid weekend for the factory outfit.
Bezzecchi’s crash forced Fabio Quartararo off the track, dropping down to 19th as a result.
Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco swapped positions but the Italian made the move stick to take third spot, with his eyes set on catching the Marquez brothers.
Ai Ogura continued to impress the paddock by starting strong to claim tenth spot by the end of the second lap, providing some much needed optimism for Aprilia.
An early crash from Enea Bastianini saw him retire on Lap 2 in his second race weekend for KTM.
On Lap 4, Franco Morbidelli slotted himself past Zarco to climb up to fourth place, before younger brother Alex Marquez moved past his older brother for the lead.
Marquez wasn’t able to find the right line and ran wide at Turn 1, allowing the Gresini rider to seize the opportunity and overtake.
Morbidelli’s purple patch continued due to him choosing the soft compound rear tyre, overtaking his fellow VR46 Academy graduate Bagnaia after the long straight.
Quite remarkably, Ogura rose through the grid with relative ease, overtaking Alex Rins, Pedro Acosta, and Joan Mir in the early stages.
The Marquez brothers cemented a 0.8s advantage over Morbidelli as the race reached Lap 8, though the younger brother was under considerable threat out front.
Riders held their positions over the next few laps, with gaps forming between the Marquez brothers, VR46 Ducati rider Morbidelli, and Bagnaia and Zarco.
Few predicted Zarco would still be tailing the factory Ducati, given the Bologna machinery’s dominance, but the Frenchman’s Honda has shown noticeable improvements after a disastrous 2024.
Towards the end of Lap 15, the older Marquez brother had a tank slapper aboard his factory Ducati. It was clear he was pushing hard to catch up to his brother, but there was no way through just yet.
Marquez attempted a lunge at the end of the back straight on Lap 18 in what was an overly ambitious move, but he ran wide and now faces the hard work ahead to catch up.
The gap between the two riders extended to 0.5s, but credit to the incumbent leader, who had the edge at his brother’s strongest points on track.
Marc finally made the move on Lap 20 at the same Turn, ensuring that the race was in his hands.
The eight-time champion stretched his lead to 0.6s yet opted to still ride to the absolute limit, before extending the advantage to over a second.
The factory Ducati rider won once again around the Termas de Rio Hondo, equalling Angel Nieto’s record with the third most wins across all classes.
Marquez crossed the 1.3s clear of his younger brother, who managed to bring home another podium finish.
Morbidelli earned his first MotoGP podium in over four years despite late pressure from Bagnaia, who finished in fourth.
Fabio Di Giannantonio earned fifth following a last lap overtake on Honda rider Zarco, defeating the Frenchman who finished as the lead non-Ducati rider.
Brad Binder finished an impressive seventh for KTM, as rookie sensation Ogura forced his way through on Acosta to snatch eighth.
Joan Mir and Luca Marini finished within three tenths of each other to take tenth and 11th, boasting an impressive outing for the Japanese marque.
Alex Rins earned points to take 12th spot, followed by fellow compatriot Maverick Vinales aboard his RC16 KTM.
Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo crossed the line 14th and 15th for Yamaha, respectively.
Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez missed out on the points and finished in 16th, defeating rookie Fermin Aldeguer.
Bastianini recovered from his crash to finish in 18th, ahead of rookie Somkiat Chantra who occupied 19th and finished as the final classified rider.
