Plane issue threatens Motogp

Motogp’s Argentinian Grand Prix was put into doubt last Thursday when delays in freight arriving to the country forced Friday’s action to be cancelled.

After a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Motogp touched down at Termas de Rio Hondo last week for its first South American race since 2019. But the weekend was put in jeopardy when one of the five cargo planes chartered to bring freight from the island of Lombok following the Indonesian GP broke down in Kenya on its way to Argentina.

Another cargo plane also encountered technical issues, but made it to Termas de Rio Hondo ahead of Friday’s planned first day of running.

The plane – a Boeing 747-200 operated by Kyrgyzstan-based company Aerostan – did not arrive in Argentina until

2145 local time on Friday, with that day’s running cancelled on Thursday.

The missing freight – which included all of VR46 and Gresini’s equipment, as well as missing bikes for KTM and various parts for other teams and companies throughout the paddock – arrived in the early hours of Saturday having been driven 60 miles from the airport at Tucuman.

Numerous teams had to start set-up before 0400 Saturday morning for FP1 getting under way at 1235 local time.

With almost 10,000 miles separating Indonesia and Argentina, Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta was questioned about possible calendar changes going forward. However, he ruled this out.

Ezpeleta did note that the problems Motogp faced in Argentina were partly a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He stated that around 20% of the cargo planes that used to be available worldwide were operated by Russian companies. However, those planes are no longer available due to the sanctions many western nations have placed on Russia. The long-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic also played a role.

Many riders also ruled out the idea of Motogp permanently switching to a two-day race weekend format following the revised event.

The Argentinian race was won by

Aleix Espargaro, his first victory in

200 Motogp starts, riding for Aprilia.