#AustralianGP – MOTOGP, SPRINT & RACE – Bastianini cross the line in P9
MOTOGP – SPRINT: Bezzecchi delivers brilliance to take gold in Phillip Island Sprint
Back-to-back Sprint victories have been completed for Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and although the Italian didn’t make it easy for himself, he came through with three laps to go on Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) to take the win. Rounding out the Sprint rostrum was Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) with P3 to P5 being covered by a tenth of a second.
OPENING ENCOUNTERS: surprise holeshot and a new leader
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) got the initial launch and holeshot but by Turn 2, Fernandez had got his way to the front and led the opening lap. He was ahead of pre-Sprint favourite Bezzecchi, who had extra wings on his Aprilia courtesy of a rather unfortunate encounter with seagulls on the Warm Up Lap. Polesitter Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had dropped to sixth behind Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Pedro Acosta, whilst the #37’s teammate, Brad Binder, crashed out at Turn 2 on Lap 1.
As Fernandez and Bezzecchi stretched away in an Aprilia 1-2, the battle was intensifying over P3, with Alex Marquez coming under increasing pressure from Miller, Acosta, Quartararo, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) doing a great job in P7. Lap 5 saw Miller and Marquez exchange places at Turn 10 and then at Turn 1. In the battle at the front, Bezzecchi had a huge moment going down into Turn 10, narrowly avoiding race leader Fernandez. In the fight for third on Lap 7, Acosta took both Miller and Marquez at Turn 1.
RECOVERING: Bezzecchi pounces on Fernandez
By Lap 9, ‘Bez’ was back on Fernandez’s rear wheel and had much more pace than the #25 and pounced at Turn 2 on Lap 10. On Lap 11, Indonesian Grand Prix winner Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crashed out at Turn 6 but was all OK and walked away. Onto the last lap and with Bezzecchi and Fernandez locked into the top two positions, it was a true head-to-head between Acosta, Miller and Di Giannantonio for the final place on the podium.
ACROSS THE LINE: the first Aprilia 1-2 in a Sprint
Bezzecchi lived up to his tag of pre-Sprint favourite and got the job done for a second Saturday in a row, whilst Fernandez also made it two Sprint podiums on the spin, making it the first Aprilia 1-2 in a Tissot Sprint. Acosta resisted late pressure from Miller and Di Giannantonio and held onto third on the run to the line, the first Sprint without a Ducati in the top three.
Behind the top five, Alex Marquez was the best for the Italian manufacturer in sixth, dropping back after a blistering start. Quartararo was seventh and will hope for a better time of things on Sunday, whilst Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) and Espargaro completed the points. Outside of the points, Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) climbed to tenth whilst at the back, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and temporary teammate Michele Pirro in what was a Sprint to forget for the #63 and #51. Pecco’s 19th place combined with Bezzecchi’s win means that there are just eight points splitting them in the battle for third overall.
MOTOGP – RACE: Flawless Fernandez claims debut win as Bezzecchi fights back for podium
A fifth different winner in a row, anyone? Raul Fernandez served it up for us with a flawless Phillip Island display to clinch his debut MotoGP victory in style, while also handing Trackhouse MotoGP Team their first win in the class too. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) came through from P10 on the grid to finish second, 1.4s away from Fernandez, while Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) passed Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) late on to climb onto the podium despite having a double Long Lap penalty.
BEZ GETS PERFECT LAUNCH
Every start is crucial, but today’s was more so for Bezzecchi. And he got a flyer from the middle of the front row. The holeshot was the Italian’s and slotting into an early P2 was Fernandez, with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), and it was those three who built up an early 0.6s lead over a chasing pack that was led by Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).
Bezzecchi got the notification of his double Long Lap penalty on Lap 2, but he didn’t take it straight away. The clear tactic was to try and build as much of a gap as possible before diving into the Long Lap loop, and on Lap 3, he continued. Meanwhile, Acosta overtook Fernandez at Turn 1 to grab P2, with Bezzecchi’s lead up to 1.1s at the start of Lap 4, and then again, he continued without taking his first Long Lap.
LONG LAPS = COMPLETED, MILLER CRASHES
Right then, Lap 5 it was. The first of two Long Laps was taken, and it dropped him behind Fernandez and Acosta. The first Long Lap cost the Italian around two seconds, as further back, two crashes unfolded in quick succession – first Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) at Turn 1, and then Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) – the home hero – at Turn 6. That was a real shame for the Aussie fans and Miller after a fantastic weekend.
Back on track, Bezzecchi served his second Long Lap, which dropped him behind fifth place Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), leaving the Sprint winner 2.8s off the lead. And the leader was now Fernandez, who was 1.1s clear of Acosta.
FERNANDEZ PULLS CLEAR
In turn, Acosta was 1.3s clear of third place Marquez, as Di Giannantonio carved his way past Quartararo for P4 on Lap 8. Bezzecchi was next to latch onto the rear tyre of the Yamaha star, and this felt like a crucial stage of the Grand Prix if Bezzecchi was to go on and win. And sure enough, Bezzecchi got a good bit of drive out of the final corner on Lap 10 to breeze past Quartararo, moving the #72 up to P5.
On Lap 13, Fernandez’s lead was 1.4s over Acosta, as the latter began to come under pressure from Marquez. At this stage, Bezzecchi remained in P5, half a second behind Di Giannantonio, four seconds away from Fernandez.
Lap 16 saw Marquez make his move on Acosta. The gap to Fernandez was now up to three seconds though and on the last time around, the Grand Prix leader was faster than all of the chasers. And the same can be said for the next lap too. 11 laps to go, was Fernandez’s lead enough?
THE CLOSING STAGES
With eight to go, it looks like it probably would be. The lead was still hovering around the three second mark, as Di Giannantonio passed Acosta for P3. With six to go, Bezzecchi pounced at Turn 8 to shove his way past Acosta into P4, but by this stage, the Italian was five seconds adrift of his fellow Aprilia star. Fernandez was still 2.8s clear of Marquez, who was now having trouble from behind with Di Giannantonio swarming.
And just like Bezzecchi did on Acosta, Di Giannantonio put a classy, brave move on Marquez to grab P2. Did the Italian have anything in the last four laps to give Fernandez something to worry about for the win?
Three to go. The gap? 2.8s. On the next lap? 2.6s. It was coming down, but nowhere near at the rate of knots needed if you were Diggia. In the podium fight, Bezzecchi had reeled in Marquez to set up a grandstand finish for P3, and on the penultimate lap at Turn 10, Bezzecchi lunged into P3.
Last lap at Phillip Island! Fernandez’s lead was 1.8s, then 1.6s through split two, but this was the Spaniard’s debut MotoGP win in the bag. Back-to-back Sprint podiums, and now, a MotoGP Grand Prix winner. Take a bow, Raul Fernandez. What a ride from the #25 to hand himself and Trackhouse a dream victory, and he made it look pretty easy as well, didn’t he?
Di Giannantonio strung together a brilliant second half of the Grand Prix to earn P2, and Bezzecchi finished the Grand Prix just 2.4s off the win despite his double Long Lap penalty. And with it, coupled with Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) late DNF at Turn 6, Bezzecchi moves into P3 in the World Championship.
YOUR AUSTRALIAN GP POINTS SCORERS
Marquez had to settle for P4 at the flag and while his wait to secure 2025’s silver medal goes on, surely it’s only a matter of time before the #73 can celebrate that accolade. Acosta held onto P5 by just 0.040s, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) the rider to come close to beating the KTM star, as Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) led the Yamaha charge in P7.
P8 went to Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), that’s a decent comeback from the South African following his three-place grid penalty, as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) also enjoyed a solid Sunday after crossing the line in P9. And rounding out the quartet of KTMs in the top 10 was the very, very impressive Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3). Chapeau to Maverick Viñales’ stand-in.
Quartararo’s Grand Prix didn’t go as planned after the polesitter slipped to P11, as Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) collected the final points in Australia.
The race has been solid, I think! Starting from P20 is not easy, but we made our way back lap after lap. I was faster as the race went by, I could catch up with the other guys, I made some good overtakes, until I ended up being in the fight for P7. Unfortunately, the tires were destroyed since I pushed hard to come back. I gave it all to try earning that P7 against Brad Binder, but I could not achieve it. We did two solid races this weekend which gave me back a bit of confidence, but our target now is really on improving qualifying, because today might have been a different story if we had not started from that far. I need to work on myself, as I am conscious that the fast lap is a weak point because of my riding style.
Enea Bastianini – P9
It was a very tough race physically, I wasn’t in top form, but we still managed to finish it at a good pace. Unfortunately, Saturday’s accident, caused by Binder’s manoeuvre, slowed down our work over the weekend, as well as hurting me physically. I’m happy for Aprilia, who had a great weekend and achieved their 300th victory. I’m very proud to be part of this project.
Lorenzo Savadori – P16
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