Ducati affected by MotoGP cargo plane breakdown in Kenya

Ducati and two of its satellite squads have been affected by a MotoGP cargo plane breaking down in Kenya on its way to this weekend’s Argentine Grand Prix.

Five cargo planes full of freight took off from the island of Lombok last Sunday following the Indonesian Grand Prix bound for Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina for round three of the 2022 season.

The planes stopped off at Mombasa in Kenya before continuing on to South America, with some of the freight arriving at Termas de Rio Honda on Saturday.

However, as first reported by Sky Italy and verified by Motorsport.com, one of the five cargo planes remains grounded in Mombasa after a technical fault was discovered on the aircraft.

MotoGP organisers have confirmed the repairs to the plane are in their final phase and it will arrive in Argentina in the next days.

But the cargo plane problem will cause a headache for the factory Ducati squad, as well as Gresini Racing and Valentino Rossi's VR46 team, which both run the Italian manufacturer's machinery.

It is understood all three teams won't receive the freight at Termas de Rio Hondo until Thursday, forcing them into a quick turnaround to get their pit boxes and bikes ready for Friday's first practice session – which will take place at 10:50am local time.

These are the only three teams affected by the cargo plane breakdown.

Bike of Jack Miller, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Gresini leads the riders' championship coming into this weekend's third round of the season, with Qatar race winner Enea Bastianini two points clear of KTM's Brad Binder.

This weekend's Argentine GP marks the first in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic started, as the previous two events had to be scrapped because of the disruption caused by the virus.

MotoGP made its first trip to the Americas since the beginning of the pandemic last October with the race in Texas, while it staged its first Asian event since 2019 in Indonesia two weeks ago.

This weekend's Argentine GP will be notable for the absence of its most recent winner Marc Marquez.

The Honda rider is currently recovering from a new episode of diplopia – otherwise known as double vision – which he suffered following a monster crash during warm-up for the Indonesian GP which ruled him out of the race.