Written by Finn Glover, Edited by Meghana Sree
After a year’s hiatus in 2024 due to political unease within the nation, MotoGP returns to its beloved Argentina — a fan favourite, fast-flowing racetrack located in the heart of the Argentine countryside.
In his prime, it was a Marc Márquez masterclass zone; yet in recent years, the track’s unpredictable nature has thrown heaps of uncertainty and surprises onto the MotoGP field. What will 2025 have in store? We will have to wait and see.
The Argentine Grand Prix: Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo.
After its inaugural MotoGP race in 2014, the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo has cemented itself as a fan-favourite MotoGP circuit. A far cry from MotoGP’s smooth-surfaced, shiny European tracks, it offers a totally unique challenge and is a real test of a rider's skill and speed.
At just 2.986 miles, the track is on the short side; albeit made up of flowing corners and a very long back straight. A selection of heavy braking-zones also offer a plethora of overtaking chances, yet the relatively narrow racing line does pose some opposition to the frantic racing quintessential to MotoGP.
Unpredictable and steamy weather is also a key factor in the circuit’s profile; with the earlier time slot of this season’s edition from April to March posing a slightly different challenge for many of the riders.
Past Results
In 2023’s wet edition; it was the Marco Bezzecchi and Ducati show; with the Italian rider dominating in supremely difficult conditions and winning by nearly five seconds on the road. He was followed by Johann Zarco, who snatched second from Alex Márquez just prior to the finish.
Just as he always is, Francesco Bagnaia was in the mix for the win, before his chances came crashing down, just after passing Márquez for second place and beginning to hunt down Bezzecchi.
Yet, with 2025 being forecasted dry, we can’t really take any meaningful data from the 2023 edition. In 2022, it was Aleix Espargaró claiming his first GP win after over a decade in the class, for Aprilia. In that race, the top three were made up of three different constructors, and the top four separated by no more than 1.8 seconds.
Argentina in recent years has been a track that has defied the form books and produced thrilling and unique MotoGP races; yet prior to the pandemic, it was a totally different story.
Marc Márquez is the leading victor at the circuit; holding three victories in the circuit's six prior editions he has featured in. That includes an utterly dominant victory in 2019, when he held a three second lead after just two laps, going unchallenged to the chequered flag. In the form he is seemingly currently in, nobody would put it past him to replicate that performance this weekend.
Termas has also notably housed some of MotoGP’s most famed and iconic moments; including Cal Crutchlow’s first ever GP win in 2018, the Rossi and Márquez clash in the same year, and the exact same happening three years prior, in 2015. Luckily for Márquez, there is no Rossi this year to get involved with; but there will certainly be some challengers looking to snatch the crown off the master of this venue’s head.
Key Notices
Aprilia test rider, Lorenzo Savadori, will continue to stand-in for reigning champion Jorge Martin for the foreseeable, as the Spaniard continues to recover from a horrid training accident keeping him out until at least Lusail.
After his dominant display in Buriram, Marc Márquez’s lead in the World Championship stands at a very respectable eight points after just one round. His brother, Alex, sits in second, on 29 points, after a very impressive weekend in Thailand; beating double champion Bagnaia in both the Sprint and main race.
Five riders — Savadori, Fermín Aldeguer, Somkiat Chantra, Ai Ogura and Pedro Acosta — will make their MotoGP Argentina debuts; with all but Savadori having raced on the track in junior series prior.
Relatively hot yet overcast conditions are forecasted for the weekend, with temperatures not quite as excruciating as Thailand yet still providing a tough challenge for the field as they head to the other side of the globe.
So, get ready to tango at Termas as MotoGP returns to its South American staple; a track whose absence was dearly felt in 2024 and fans are delighted to see it return.
Can Marc Márquez continue his dominant, ravenous start to the season at a track he has such an amazing history at? Or perhaps his brother will have something to say, after he claimed his first pole here in the last edition in 2023.
What surprises might be in store this weekend? Tune in to find out! The race starts at 6:00pm GMT/UTC.
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