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Argentina Moto3: McPhee, Martin ensure double points

Peugeot’s John McPhee finished the highest classified rider in a Mahindra bike at Sunday’s Argentine Grand Prix after making a late pass on the sister team Aspar of Jorge Martin for seventh place.

Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3

Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3

Mirco Lazzari

Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3
Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3
Stefano Valtulini, 3570 Team Italia
Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3
Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3
Practice action
Fabio Spiranelli, CIP-Unicorn Starker
Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3
Darryn Binder
Stefano Valtulini, 3570 Team Italia
Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra Moto3

On a wet, but drying Termas de Rio Hondo track, most riders opted for slicks, hoping the conditions to improve.

McPhee, who qualified well down the order in 28th place, rapidly gained positions, making a last gasp pass on Martin to finish in seventh place.

The Spanish held on to his eighth position despite losing as many seconds at the death end of the race, ensuring a double top-10 result for Mahindra.

The Aspar rider was as high as fifth in the opening stages after having started 19th in the race battling with the top half for podium before falling back.

Martin rued the continuing gearbox issue which hampered him during the race. "We have had problems all weekend with the gearbox and the race was no different, we were struggling from the fifth lap and it has prevented us from finishing even higher up," he said.

At the front, Malaysia’s Khairul Idham Pawi took a dominant victory in only his third Moto3 race, with Estrella Galicia’s Jorge Navarro and the KTM Ajo of pole-sitter Brad Binder accompanying him on the podium.

Meanwhile, McPhee's teammate Alexis Masbou finished in 21st place, while Francesco Bagnaia was 23rd in the other factory Aspar Mahindra.

Further down, Platinum Bay’s Karel Hanika finished in 24th position, with Tatsuki Suzuki (CIP) and Stefano Valtulini (Team Italia) taking 27th and 28th positions respectively.

The last three riders to complete the race, albeit a lap down on the leaders were Darryn Binder 30th in the Platinum Bay, Lorenzo Petrarca 31st in the Team Italia and CIP’s Fabio Spiranelli was 32nd.

After the second round of the championship, Binder leads the standings with 36 points, with Qatar winner Niccolo Antonelli five points adrift in second place.

Bagnaia currently holds fifth place following a podium finish in Qatar with teammate in 16th place with eight points as McPhee sits 13th with nine points.

Mahindra is third in the constructors' list with 24 points while Peugeot fourth with nine points.

Mahindra riders race results:

Rider

Team

Gap (from leader)

 John McPhee

Peugeot

32.493

 Jorge Martin

Aspar Mahindra

43.596

 Alexis Masbou

Peugeot

1:12.382

 Francesco Bagnaia

Aspar Mahindra

1:18.884

 Karel Hanika

Platinum Bay

1:25.115

 Tatsuki Suzuki

CIP

1:38.784

 Stefano Valtulini

Team Italia

1:39.051

 Darryn Binder

Platinum Bay

1 lap

 Lorenzo Petrarca

Team Italia

1 lap

 Fabio Spiranelli

CIP

1 lap

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Edition

Australia