The teams swapped trucks for freight and road for air miles as the fans and fever descended on Termas for the second year in a row.
The Gran Premio Michelin de la Republica Argentina provided swift momentum and a small landmark for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. On Sunday Jack Miller and Brad Binder rode to 6th and 17th positions just twenty-four hours after Binder had steered the KTM RC16 to victory in the second MotoGP Sprint.
At the Saturday sprint race, Brad Binder had made good progress from the discomfort of his neck problem that limited some of his potential in Portugal and the South African wheeled the KTM RC16 to 15th place in qualification after MotoGP suffered low grip conditions and unstable weather with bouts of rainfall on Saturday.
In the 12-lap Sprint Binder scorched from the bottom of the fifth row of the grid, cut his way to 5th in the opening corners and seized control by the third lap. Brad put the #33 on top of the podium for the first time since his victory in 2021 in Austria. Teammate Jack Miller grabbed 10th place having moved up from 16th.
Commenting on his sprint win, rider Brad Binder said: “I surprised myself a little bit: what a start. I got super-tight in Turn 1, held the inside line and then just picked them off one at a time.
“I thought if I could go to the front and fight like hell then maybe I could stay there and the plan worked. I could hear the boys behind me at the end but brought it home.
“Thanks to my team; the step from yesterday was unreal, the bike was fantastic.”
On Sunday the 25-lap full distance Grand Prix gave the South African and Jack Miller (setting off from 15th and 16th on the grid respectively) another chance to chase points and further definition of the race bike package for the long season ahead.
Persistent rain all day in at Rio Hondo led to MotoGP’s first wet start since last year’s Thailand GP, with the entire field unanimous in its decision to run medium front and rear wet Michelins.
Bezzecchi got the best start from the front row to snatch the lead from Marquez, as Bagnaia slotted into third after the opening few corners.
Binder was not able to replicate his first lap prowess from Saturday and his tumble on the first lap after contact with another rider meant a long ride to 17th
Miller rode well to rise from the sixth row of the grid and slid into the contest for the top five. He then fought closely with Fabio Quartararo and succeeded in keeping the former world champion at bay to make sure of 6th.
Discussing his performance, rider Jack Miller said: “We wanted a bit more from this wet race but I tried my best from the beginning. It was really tricky in the first few laps to find a position and make a few overtakes on the other guys.
“Just before mid-race I had some clear track and was catching the guys but had a few issues and couldn’t push any more. I played around with the maps and got comfortable to the point where I could make some moves again. A learning day for us.
“All-in-all a good weekend and we found out a lot more about our package and our potential. We’ll have another go in Austin.”
At the head of the pack, Bezzecchi kept everything tidy through to the chequered flag to score Ducati’s first win at Rio Hondo.
The battle for second raged to the final lap, as Pramac’s Zarco – who was at one stage six seconds behind the podium – charged through to overhaul Morbidelli on lap 23, before taking second from Marquez at Turn 5 on the last tour.
Zarco headed Marquez to the chequered flag to complete an all-satellite Ducati top three.
Miller has 25 points and is 6th in the standings, just 10 away from the top three. Binder is close behind in 8th. The team are second on 38 points in the Constructors’ Championship.
Discussing the team’s first sprint race win and overall weekend performance, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager Francesco Guidotti said: “An incredible sprint race by Brad. He had an amazing start. Very clean and not too aggressive. He passed like a champion and defended the lead on the last lap like a lion.
“We knew starting from where we were on the grid that the race would be tricky in these conditions: visibility is poor and you cannot attack into the first corner and around the first laps like Brad showed us yesterday. Jack did a great job from 16th. A shame for Brad and the crash; it ended his race so early.