James Toseland's Insider Insights: 4th April 2019

Rio Hondo CIRCUIT: Argenitna

What a weekend of racing it was in Argentina, the 2nd round of the MotoGP championship. It had more ups and downs than an Olympic trampolinist! 

MOTO3

Let’s start with Moto3. 

This category gets stronger every year as far as the quality of the racing goes. The last lap looks like the first lap and the race craft of these young riders is incredible. It was an emotional victory for Jaume Masia, taking his first ever Grand Prix win. An outstanding ride from Darryn Binder to take 2nd after qualifying in 20th and rounding up the podium was the very exciting to watch Italian, Tony Arbolino. 

MOTO2

After the success of Triumph’s inaugural race in Qatar and many riders smashing the lap record, the record books continued to be re-written in Argentina. Triumph’s power enabled 19 riders to finish the race under the race time from 2018! Lorenzo Baldassarri rode a very intelligent and calculated race. Managing his tyres earlier in the race enabled him to pull just enough of a gap at the end of the race to take back-to-back victories in the first two rounds of the championship. 

What an emotional first podium finish it was for Remy Gardner though! I know from speaking to his legendary father Wayne, they have put almost everything they have into helping Remy live his dream of becoming a world class rider and Remy paid him back in spades at the weekend with an incredible 2nd place. Remy runs number 87 in respect of his father’s premier class victory in 1987. It’s great to see the next generation come of age! Alex Marquez rounded up the podium with a great ride to 3rd also. So many riders are capable of standing on the podium this year in Moto2 and I’m looking forward to seeing how things pan out in the next few races!

MOTOGP 

Marc Marquez was magnificent! How he can pull such a gap at the front of the race, with such a quality field, is remarkable. His shoulder operation has gone very well it seems and if he has more strength from that now to enable him to ride that way then I’m sure the other guys will be very worried about stopping him this year. Valentino Rossi rode an amazing race once again. An outstanding move on Andrea Dovizioso on the last lap secured a brilliant 2nd place for him and in doing so scoring those precious extra 4 points in the championship. If these fly-away races at the beginning of this season prove to be difficult to beat Marc Marquez, then Valentino is doing a great job at limiting the damage by picking up as many points as possible to keep Marc in his sights. Andrea Dovizioso is doing the same also. A fantastic win in Qatar and another strong podium finish here in Argentina. 

The next round is in Texas and nobody has beaten Marc Marquez in the last 10 years there! Let’s hope the others can close the gap when returning to Europe. 
I haven’t mentioned the British riders throughout because it was an unfortunate weekend for them. John McPhee misjudging his move and crashing in Moto3. Sam Lowes losing the front in Moto2 and the controversial jump start for Cal Crutchlow in MotoGP. I have seen the slow motion footage of his start and there is slight movement before the lights went out which technically classes it as a jump start. The punishment massively outweighs the crime though. He didn’t take any advantage going into turn one from the movement and a ride-through cost him 25 seconds. But the rule is, no movement at all before lights go out. Cal is riding brilliantly though and I’m sure he’s already put that at the back of his mind and looking forward to the next race in Texas!  

Texas here we come! 

JT.