The Grand Prix of Argentina, which reached its 15th edition, will take place in the track located in the Santiago del Estero province for the sixth consecutive year. Andrea Dovizioso achieved his best result there in 2015, when he finished second, while in the past two seasons the Italian finished sixth and fifth, first among Ducati riders. Danilo Petrucci claimed seventh place in 2017 as his personal best result on this circuit, and is particularly determined to rewrite the stats.

Ahead of the GP, the FIM Court of Appeal ruled that the appendix mounted on the swingarm of the Ducati Desmosedici GP 19 of Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller is complying with the technical regulations and therefore can be utilized again during the 2019 championship.

“We were convinced we fully complied with the technical regulations and therefore we were confident about the ruling by the FIM Court of Appeal, so we can only express our satisfaction for the decision made, which further underlies the regularity of our endeavors,” said Luigi Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager. “Now we simply want to focus on the upcoming race, which is bound to be another tough and exciting challenge.”

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 1st (25 points)
“We started the season in the best possible way, winning the opening race in Qatar, but the championship is long and we know by experience we cannot let our guard down. We have a great base, we’re working efficiently and we were able to make the most of our strong suits at Losail, especially in terms of acceleration and top speed, but we need to improve our mid-corner speed. To this end, the upcoming race will represent a good benchmark and will allow us to try some new solutions. Our goal is to be on the podium also on less favorable tracks to be in contention until the very last race.”

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 6th (10 points)
“I’m ready to tackle the next race with even more motivation after finishing sixth in Qatar. I need to continue to be fast, but also to improve my overall approach ahead of the race. The Termas de Río Hondo circuit is somewhat tricky to interpret, its layout is quite peculiar and in the past it’s been generally dirty in the early sessions, which increases tyre wear and doesn’t help finding the right feeling. Things can change real quick also in terms of weather, it’ll be crucial to start off on the right foot to maximize the track time during practice. I’m confident: last year we found a good setup for the race and we’ll try to restart from there, our goal is once again to finish within the top five.”

The Mission Winnow Ducati team will resume action Friday, March 29th, at 10:50 local time for the first free-practice session.

Circuit information

Country: Argentina
Name: Termas de Río Hondo
Fastest Lap: Marquez (Honda), 1’37.683 (177.1 km/h) – 2014
Circuit Record: Rossi (Yamaha), 1’39.019 (174.7 km/h) – 2015
Best Pole: Marquez (Honda), 1’37.683 (177.1 km/h) – 2014
Top Speed: Petrucci (Ducati), 334.4 km/h – 2017
Track Length: 4.8 km
Race Distance: 25 laps (120.2 km)
Corners: 14 (5 left, 9 right)

2018 results
Podium: 1st Crutchlow (Honda); 2nd Johann Zarco (Yamaha), 3rd Rins (Suzuki)
Pole Position: Miller (Ducati) 1:47.153 (161,4 km/h)
Fastest lap: Marquez (Honda) 1:39.902 (173,1 km/h)

Rider information

Andrea Dovizioso
Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP
Race Number: 04
Age: 33 (born on 23 March 1986 in Forlimpopoli)
Residence: Forlì (Italy)
Races: 295 (197 x MotoGP, 49 x 250cc, 49 x 125cc)
First GP: 2008 Qatar (MotoGP), 2005 Spain (250cc), 2001 Italy (125cc)
Wins: 22 (13 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
First Win: 2009 Great Britain (MotoGP), 2006 Catalonia (250cc), 2004 South Africa (125cc)
Pole Positions: 20 (7 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 9 x 125cc)
First Pole: 2010 Japan (MotoGP), 2006 France (250cc), 2003 France (125cc)
World Titles: 1 (1 x 125cc)

Danilo Petrucci
Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP
Race number: 9
Age: 28 (born on 24 October 1990 in Terni)
Residence: Forlì (Italia)
Races: 119 (MotoGP)
First GP: 2012 Qatar (MotoGP)
Wins: –
Pole positions: –
World titles: –