Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders, Franco Morbidelli and Tom Lüthi, are both targeting points this weekend, as MotoGP heads to Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina for round two of the 2018 World Championship.

Morbidelli opened his points account with 12th place in the opening round of the season in Qatar, but Lüthi was disappointed to miss out on the final points scoring position, as he came home 16th on his MotoGP debut. 

Both riders know the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit – Morbidelli won the Moto2 race at the Grand Prix of Argentina last year and was joined on the podium by Lüthi, who finished third – but Friday's opening free practice session will their first experience of the circuit aboard a MotoGP machine.

Once again the two MotoGP rookies are facing a steep learning curve this weekend, but both are determined to leave Argentina on Sunday with more points on the board.

Franco Morbidelli:
“I’m really looking forward to this race because it’s a race where the Honda has previously performed better than in Qatar. We have a bit more theoretical potential there. It will be nice to see. After the good result we achieved in Qatar and the good progression we’ve made since, I can’t wait to jump on the bike and do my job. I will give my maximum to learn the track as quickly as possible and to reach a good level. We will see. For sure I’ll try to be fast!”

Tom Lüthi:
“When I got back from Qatar I was disappointed I hadn’t achieved my first points in MotoGP, but I’m really happy overall with the progress we made over the weekend. I think it’s important we can continue like that in Argentina. It will be a new track for me with a MotoGP bike, as opposed to Qatar, where I tested before the race, so this will be all new. Overall, I like the track and I’m really looking forward to making more progress. We really learned a lot in Qatar and if we can continue that work it should be another positive weekend for us.”