It is called Land of Fire and you expect hot and sunny weather and that’s what we had till Friday. Then, as it often happens during race weekends, the weather changed and since that moment, it was a mess. Rain kept going on and off and it was complicated to choose the right tyre, slick or rain.
Troubles started with the qualifying practice when Tatsu entered the pit on the wrong time, without taking advantage of the last dry lap available before the rain and ended up 18th.
Also Antonelli had problems in managing the tires’s use and started from the 9th grid position.
On race day we decided not to take the risk to use the slick and went for the rain tires for both riders. At turn 8 Yurchenko crashed and took Tatsu with him in the gravel, but Tatsu got back on his bike and finished the race. That was a pity because Tatsu was fast and had the same lap time of the leading group both at the end of the race and during the warm up in the morning when he finished second. Looks like we have a bit of bad luck, we just need to wait for it to go away.
Niccolo made a good race. Considering the condition, finishing the race was a success already. The asphalt was very tricky with dry and wet spots and so dirty that looked like it was a MX race.The mechanics had to clean up the bikes piece by piece. During the last lap Niccolò was 6th but Dalla Porta tried to overtake him and finished 8th. Nico has to be more careful of who is behind him. Dalla Porta is used to make such overtakings, even if there is a tiny space. But it’s fine, it’s a lesson that he learnt and next time he will be ready to face it.
We leave Argentina a bit disappointed for Tatsuki and slightly dissatisfied with Niccolò, but quoting my calendar “Bad news is that you can only change yourself, good new is that it changes everything”. And that’s what we are going to do; working on ourselves.
Talking about CIV 600 Supersport. This weekend Casadei made his debut on the right foot. He was having a very good race but a problem with his suit caused him a blood circulation issue of his arm and ended the race 7th instead of 1st. I am happy with the choice we made with Mattina, this is the right bike for him and Supersport is the right championship.
Who hasn’t said a word about the issue between Vale and Marquez?
This a story I have already lived… the same quotes and comments with different subjects involved. It’s a pity because these situations eclipse the deeds of those who make history like Crutchlow who won the race after a breathtaking battle with Zarco. Bezzecchi, a great rider from Rimini whose only mistake was… to win here in Argentina his first GP. And Mattia Pasini an old-school rider still able to win at his age and with only one full-performing arm.
PaoloSic58