Francesco Bagnaia closes the Sprint Race at Termas de Río Hondo in sixth place

• Two Ducatis on the podium: Bezzecchi (VR46 Racing Team) finishes second ahead of teammate Marini

Francesco Bagnaia closed in sixth place in the Sprint Race of the GP of Argentina, held this afternoon at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. 

After qualifying third behind the Desmosedici GPs of poleman Alex Márquez (Gresini Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi second, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider put on a show with the two fellow Ducati riders, as they engaged in a heated tussle in the afternoon race.

Seventh after the start, Bagnaia immediately tried to recover the lost positions. After a series of overtakes and counter-overtakes, he finally managed to climb back to fifth place, but on the last lap, he was overtaken again by Alex Márquez and had to settle for sixth. The rider from Chivasso remains at the top of the overall standings with 41 points, while Ducati and the Ducati Lenovo Team are first in the constructors' and teams' standings, respectively.

Both VR46 Racing Team riders climbed on the podium as Marco Bezzecchi, second, went close to clinching the victory, and Luca Marini ended third. 

Francesco Bagnaia (#1, Ducati Lenovo Team) - 6th
"Sixth place is a good result, and I am happy. Unlike my opponents, who pushed very hard throughout the race, I didn't feel 100%, so I decided not to take unnecessary risks. I had some problems at the beginning to avoid the confusion generated after the start. In any case, I had a lot of fun: it was a race full of overtaking and good battles. For tomorrow we already know where we need to improve. It will be important to manage the situation well during the 25 laps, so tomorrow's GP will definitely be very different from today's Sprint Race."

The Ducati Lenovo Team will return to the track tomorrow at 9:45am local time for the warm-up, while the Argentina GP will start at 2pm (CEST -5.00) over a 25-lap distance.