MotoGP™ roared again at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit for the first time since 2023, with the premier class finally kicking off the party for the 9th edition of the Grand Prix of Argentina as riders hit the track on Friday morning under the clouds of Termas. The rain from overnight had left the track damp and dirty, but conditions quickly improved for the main class who came in after the other classes. Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini from Red Bull KTM Tech3 continued the adaptation to the RC16, and finished day 1 in P16 and P21. They will be both looking forward to more track time on Saturday morning to fine-tune their respective packages ahead of qualifying and sprint day.
Grand Prix of Argentina
Already a race winner in Argentina (2017), Maverick Viñales was eager to get back on his KTM RC16 after an opening round of learnings in Thailand two weeks ago. The Spaniard opted for a different strategy on Friday, and he focused on trying new bike’s settings all day, after Buriram allowed him to understand strong and weak points. Lap times improved during the 45-minute opening session, and a late improvement of Viñales in 1'39.889 saw him close the session in 8th, as the top KTM bike, 0.952 seconds off championship leader Marc Marquez, fastest of the morning. The afternoon’s key one-hour Practice session was a busy one for Top Gun who looked to continue his search and tests for better feelings, in addition to getting the fast laps. For the first 40 minutes, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider kept a competitive pace as he remained within the provisional Q2 spots. With just 15 minutes remained on the clock, Top Gun could not find the right feeling to improve his best lap, and eventually his 1’38.315 (lap 14 of 23), remained his fastest. Viñales finished 16th in the timesheets, 0.481 seconds off the Q2 spots, and 0.488 seconds from Pedro Acosta’s KTM. The number 12 will look forward to Free Practice 2 to prepare Q1 in the best way possible.
Finally back in Termas de Río Hondo for the first time since 2022, Enea Bastianini arrived in Argentina with positive vibes from his Buriram remontada. The 23 knew it already, Friday would be about adaptation and setting the targets of the weekend. In the morning session, Enea took his time to get the feeling of the track on his RC16, and completed 18 laps with a best in 1’41.030. The Italian continued to work at his own rhythm in the afternoon’s Practice, making progress lap after lap. Still, some things will need to be figured out heading to Super Saturday in Argentina, with Bastianini ending day 1 of action in P21 with a best lap in 1’38.785, 1.490 seconds from the top 10. MotoGP™ will return on Saturday morning with a packed-action day at the Termas de Río Hondo track, with Free Practice 2 opening MotoGP™ action at 10:10 LT (UTC-3), followed by the qualifying session. Then all eyes will be set on the Tissot Sprint (12 laps), at 15:00 local time.
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "We had some good laps, especially in the morning, and in the afternoon's second run. After that, I could not really improve. I am feeling a lack of front grip, and I am feeling a bit blocked because I can not really improve my lap times. I was happy about the 1’38.315, but I really felt like I had more. As soon as I pushed more, I missed the apex of the corners. We obviously have work to do, understand a bit more the bike, but for sure the KTM works well here. We saw it with Binder and Acosta today, so we just need to try understand how we can get closer to them."
ENEA BASTIANINI: "The day has been a disaster to be honest. The conditions were not ideal, but overall the first free practice was difficult for me. This afternoon, I tried to improve a bit, I was feeling confident at the start of my run, I felt like I could ride faster, but as soon as we switched to new tyres, I did not feel any change. We had a similar feeling during the Buriram test, so I really want to understand why we are having this issue, because I don't like starting from P20 on the grid. We are going to check the data carefully, because the KTM is fast here, we saw it with Binder today, so let's study everything, and try to arrive on Saturday much stronger."
PRACTICE RESULTS
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 1'37.295
2. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA), VR46 Racing Team, +0.135
3. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +0.201
16. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.020
21. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.490
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - M. Marquez (SPA) - 1'37.295, 177.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2015 - V. Rossi (ITA) - 1'39.019, 174.7 km/h
Best Pole: 2014 - M. Marquez (SPA) - 1'37.683, 177.1 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - B. Binder (RSA) - 346.5 km/h
