The challenges come thick and fast for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Franco Morbidelli and Álex Márquez, as the pair prepare for back-to-back Moto2 races in Argentina and America.

Morbidelli produced an outstanding debut for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS when he battled with Thomas Lüthi right to the chequered flag for the opening 25-points of the 2016 campaign in Qatar.

But a late 20-second penalty for a jump-start relegated the Italian down to a disappointing seventh place.

A second row start and victory challenge though meant there were plenty of positives for the Italian to take away from Qatar. And he is confident he can launch another strong podium challenge in Argentina after a thrilling charge through the field at the Termas de Rio Hondo track a year ago, when he came through from 22nd on the grid to finish fifth.

Álex Márquez is aiming for a trouble free second round to fire some early momentum into his campaign after a race crash in Qatar ruled him out of top 10 contention.

The Termas de Rio Honda circuit presents Márquez with the perfect opportunity to restore any lost confidence on a track where he finished on the podium in the inaugural Termas de Rio Hondo Moto3 race in 2014.

Franco Morbidelli
“We were fast in Qatar, so we arrive in Argentina with a good base from which to work this weekend. We need to continue working in the same way as we did in preseason testing and the first race, pushing to improve in every session. Hopefully the weather will be good to us at Termas de Rio Hondo this weekend and we can come away on Sunday with another good result, but with no penalties this time!”

Álex Márquez
“Despite the end result not being what we wanted, I left Qatar thinking I still made a really good job with the team and how we worked to improve the bike. The biggest area we improved was a chatter issue and before my crash I was happy with my rhythm in the race. So we can go into this weekend optimistic because I really like this track a lot. A big motivation this weekend is to improve my qualifying because there is so much fast talent in Moto2 now that if you are down the grid it makes your job very difficult.”