Livio Loi had double reason to celebrate during the GP of Argentina after marking his 17th birthday with an inspired ride to fourth, the Belgian rider missing a stunning maiden podium by a margin of just 0.084s.
Livio’s stellar performance on a weekend in which he also scored a career best qualifying result, saw him fight for the win with Romano Fenati, Alex Marquez and Jack Miller in a nail-biting battle that was only decided at the final corner.
“That was an incredible way to celebrate my birthday. It was an unbelievable race because I lost some places at the start, but once in my rhythm I just kept passing and moving forward. I saw the leading group wasn’t far away so I kept pushing and all of the time I was closing the gap. At the final corner I couldn’t take the inside line, so I had to go round the outside and I was still very good on the brakes, even on the dirty part of the track. But Fenati touched Marquez and Miller and I had to pick my bike up. I’m a little disappointed to just miss out on the podium after such an amazing race but this weekend has been massive boost for my confidence. Now I have showed I can be there and I want to thank the Marc VDS Racing Team for always believing in me.”
