A second consecutive points scoring finish came the way of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli in today’s Grand Prix of Argentina.

MotoGP rookie Morbidelli finished 14th at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit to back up his 12th place in the opening race in Qatar.

It was a sterling performance after a poor qualifying which saw Morbidelli starting from 22nd position.

There was a confusing delay to the race due to safety concerns as many teams left the grid to switch from wet weather tyres to slicks to account for the quickly drying track conditions.

While the narrow racing line made overtaking difficult Morbidelli rode a controlled and calm race to finish just 0.2s ahead of Ducati rival Jorge Lorenzo.

Lüthi’s bid for a points scoring finish came up just short with the Swiss rider finishing 17th, but  just four tenths of second behind Lorenzo.

Franco Morbidelli: 14th
“We gambled a little with the tyre choice but our team made the right decision and did the correct thing but we were not rewarded because they delayed the start. I was careful in the opening laps but gradually recovered some positions and I’m happy for these two points considering the problems that we've had here.”

Tom Lüthi: 17th
“I learnt a lot this weekend with the crazy weather and track conditions. I am hoping for bigger steps to improve but at the end of the race I was too much on the limit and fighting with the bike, I had some slides on the wet part of the track. I had a nice fight with Franco to try and get in the points but, unfortunately, I just missed out.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“It was very strange and stressful race given the situation on the grid with a penalty for those teams who changed tyres. We did the correct thing to come to pit lane and change tyres before the start but then got the same grid penalty as the others. The race was very difficult but again it was impressive for Franco to score points and Tom learnt a lot in his battle with Franco at the end. We need to carry this momentum to the next race in Texas.”