MotoGP Argentina | Bezzecchi, Marini deliver double podium landmark for VR46

Valentino Rossi’s Mooney VR46 Racing stuck another landmark objective from its proverbial ‘bucket list’ as Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini landed the team’s first-ever double top three MotoGP result in the Argentina Sprint Race.

In what has been a strong start to VR46 Racing second season in MotoGP, Bezzecchi collected his second podium in as many races after muscling his way through a closely-matched field to finish on the tail of KTM’s winner Brad Binder.

“It was fantastic, I really enjoyed it,” he said. “The battling at the beginning was fantastic but it [the race win] was lost at the beginning when I was battling with the Aprilias.

“I started being aggressive because I knew I could win. In the end I tried to get past Brad but I was only close on the last lap. I tried but he is a very hard on the brakes so I couldn’t do a relaxing overtake.”

Marini, meanwhile, clicked off his first top three finish in MotoGP after following his team-mate up the order, even if the Sprint Race celebration format - a medal ceremony with no raised 1-2-3 steps - means he will still need to repeat the feat in a full length MotoGP feature race to physically step onto a podium.

“I am really happy about the result, especially after Portimao. I made a fantastic start and it is so important in the sprint to be at the front in the beginning.

“I hope to fight in the main race but I don’t think I have the pace to fight for this kind of result, but the Sprint is good information for myself to try and analyse with my team because we need 0.2-0.3secs more.”