What to expect at the MotoGP Argentina GP

The Argentina GP is back on the MotoGP calendar this season after a year’s absence, with Termas de Rio Honda staging the second round of the championship this weekend.

While the opening race in Thailand may not have delivered any great surprise in terms of the winner, with Marc Marquez sweeping the weekend on his first outing aboard the factory Ducati, history suggests anything is possible in Argentina.

Changeable weather and unusual or first-time winners have become something of a tradition at this round of the championship. Key to the element of unpredictability is the relative lack of data at this venue, where three of the last five MotoGP races have been cancelled (see below). Its early-season date is also a factor, as manufacturers tend to be closer on performance whilst they figure out their new machines.

Last time this race was run, two years ago, Marco Bezzecchi scored his breakthrough MotoGP win in a wet-weather affair. That weekend also saw Alex Marquez – who was second in this year’s Thailand opener – score his first pole position.

The 2023 edition also saw Brad Binder win the sprint race for KTM, a manufacturer for whom victories have been collectors’ items throughout its time in MotoGP.

One year earlier came a memorable breakthrough for Aleix Espargaro. His defeat of Jorge Martin that day was also the long-awaited first win for Aprilia in MotoGP.

Few will forget the controversial 2018 race, in which Cal Crutchlow scored the last of his three career MotoGP wins. Jack Miller’s first pole position had played out in unusual fashion at the start of the race, with the rest of the field being forced to start several rows behind him after changing from wet to dry tyres following the sighting lap.

Can anybody beat Marc Marquez?

Despite the history of South American surprises, it will still take a brave soul to bet against Marc Marquez this weekend after his dominant pole, sprint and grand prix victory in Thailand. It must be observed that not every Argentina GP has seen a remarkable new winner: Marquez won there in 2014, 2016 and 2019.

He survived another unusual chapter in race administration history – a compulsory mid-race bike change for all riders – to win the 2016 edition.

Marquez might have taken the 2015 race too, but fell after a memorable clash with ultimate winner Valentino Rossi.

While Marc Marquez has those three wins to his name, the man touted as his biggest 2025 rival, team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, has never scored a podium in any category in Argentina. He also crashed out of second place in MotoGP’s last visit here in 2023. With that modest record in mind, perhaps a repeat of the third place he scored in Thailand would not be a bad return for the 2022 and 2023 world champion.

Rather than Bagnaia, it was Alex Marquez who emerged as his brother’s biggest threat at the opening round. Returning to the scene of his first pole position, the younger Marquez can be expected to keep the pressure on his brother once again. The star of winter testing, Alex led the middle part of the Thai GP before Marc reclaimed the advantage. He will know that the early season, and this unpredictable race in particular, could be his best opportunity to score a win aboard the year-old GP24.

With Aprilia and Bezzecchi having made their breakthroughs in Argentina in 2022 and 2023 respectively, the omens are good for the new Aprilia/Bezzecchi combination, which opened with a sixth place in Thailand. Bezzecchi’s first goal, however, will be to beat star rookie Ai Ogura, who was fifth aboard the independent Trackhouse Aprilia.

With Honda having taken a great stride over the winter, keep an eye on Johann Zarco in particular this weekend. The Frenchman, who finished an encouraging seventh in Thailand, was Moto2 winner at Termas de Rio Hondo in 2015 and 2016.

Paddock

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

A patchy hosting history

Even off the track, the Argentina round of the championship has rarely been straightforward. First run in 1961, it made only intermittent appearances on the calendar until 2014. And even since then, it has dropped off the schedule three times.

While the cancellation of the country’s MotoGP round during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 aligned with international events, the 2024 race only fell by the wayside due to state spending cuts brought in by new president Javier Milei.

The pandemic wasn’t the only off-circuit issue in 2021, with a fire having destroyed the pit complex that year.

In 2022, the first day of practice was cancelled in its entirety after delays shipping the MotoGP circus’s freight to the venue.