Mattia Pasini made himself hard to pass, forcing his rivals to ride around into the wet and work hard as he hꦬeld on to the lead to cross the line in first place in t🅷he Moto2 Grand Prix in Argentina.

The Italtrans Kalex rider marked his 100th M🍌oto2 start with a hard earned win, his second in the intermediate class, pushed all the way to the end by Xavi Vierge and Miguel Oliveira with the trio swapping the lead until Pasini focussed and took control on the final lap.

The result also hands t💞he Italian the lead in the championship standi🍷ngs, with 38 points after his fourth last time out in Qatar.

Vierge, who had started on pole for Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) had great speed in the corners and had lead after a strong start when the lights went out, but could not 🗹find a way past the veteran racer when it mattered most, leaving him second.

KTM take the final spot on the podium thanks to the efforts of Miguel Oliveira for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team who immediately pulled himself into podium contention on the first co♛rner of the race.

Lo🐬renzo Baldassarri faded from the leaders but held on to fourth for Pons HP40 after battling Alex Marquez to the line, the EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider who struggled, running wide several times in the tricky conditions, knuckled down to battle the Italian but had to settle for fifth.

Tech3’s Remy Gardner spent much of his time solo on track on his way to a lonely sixth, his best finish to date with the distant battle for seventh next to re𝓰ach the finish line.

That was won by a gutsy r🥀ide from tꦏop rookie Joan Mir on the second Marc VDS entry, pushed all the way by a determined Dominique Aegerter on his Kiefer Racing machine.

Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Francesco Bagnaia arrived le꧅ading the title hunt after his win in Qatar but never really got to grips with the changeable, wet conditions at Termas De Rio Hondo, though he did improve from his qualifying position of 15th to claim ninth at the cheq൲uered flag.

The final spot insi🐽de the top ten went to Marcel Schrotter, who continued his solid start to the season on the second Dynavolt entry as he raced Bagnaia to the line.

Iker Lecuona also enjoyed his best ever Moto2 finish in eleventh, ahead of his team-mate at Swiss Innovative Investors Sam Lowes who finished thirteenth after contact and a trip over the slipery paint, coupled w𝐆ith unwanted vibrations from his bike saw him drop from the lead pack.

They were split by fellow Brit ꦕDan𒅌ny Kent, who had a poor start from the front row, dropping to 12th on the first lap, where battles kept him pinned, only progressing to eleventh at the close for Speed Up.

Isaac Vinales took 14th for SAG Team, with Italtrans rider Andrea Locatelli claiming the fi𝓡nal point on offﷺer in 15th.

Brad Binder was the first casual🍬ty after being hit in the rear by Jorge Navarro, leaving him in the gravel at turn thirteen after just two laps. Navarro retired on lap six. J🐼ules Danilo also failed to finish.