Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli took control of the Moto2 World Championship with a superb victory in today’s Argentine Grand Prix.

In the process Morbidelli became the first Italian rider to win consecutive races in Moto2 following his opening round victory in Qatar.

It was a master class by the 22-year-old Italian who dominated the 23-lap race with a perfectly executed front-running strategy at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.

Morbidelli set the pace from the start with teammate Álex an almost constant shadow in second place with the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS pair dominating the race.

After briefly taking the lead into turn five on lap 21, with Morbidelli immediately responding to go back in front, Márquez set himself for a last lap challenge for victory.

But a 1-2 finish went begging when Márquez high-sided at turn seven on the final lap, an undeserving end to his brave podium challenge after a tense battle with Morbidelli.

Márquez rejoined to bring his battered Kalex home in 21st position.

The race was run in dry and cool conditions after practice and qualifying had been interrupted by rain.

Morbidelli has a perfect score of 50 points after two races to hold a 14 point championship lead over Tom Lüthi going into the next race at COTA in Texas.

Franco Morbidelli: 1st
“This is an amazing feeling, two victories in a row, just incredible and I hope I can keep this momentum going.  I was pushing really hard from the start and very quickly I saw that Álex was going very fast close behind so I was ready for the fight.  With a lap to go I had + 0.3s and pushed even harder for the win and did not know Álex had crashed until I took the chequered flag. It was a pity his race ended like this.”

Álex Márquez: 21st
“For sure today I had a chance to go for the victory so it is really disappointing. I made a mistake in the last lap and I am not sure what happened but sometimes it is like this, when you go down you have to get back up and be even stronger. I want to thank my team, I destroyed a bike in practice and we made more changes after the warm-up and I had a perfect bike in the race. This year I am more confident on worn tyres at the end of the race but today I made a mistake. I’m not happy but there are some positives to take from the weekend.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“This was a fantastic race and it is 2014 since both of our riders were fighting for victory on the last lap. The battle between Franco and Álex went on until just a few corners from the finish and it's a shame it ended the way it did. But I am very happy for our team, as we have shown we can be very competitive with both riders challenging for the victory. For Franco you cannot do more than win the opening two races of the season, it was an excellent performance from him.”