victory for Jorge Martin in the sprint

victory for Jorge Martin in the sprint
victory for Jorge Martin in the sprint

The boss of the group. Jorge Martin confirms and wins the sprint, before the Australian Grand Prix this Sunday morning. Marc Marquez (Ducati-Gresini) finished second, with third place going to Enea Bastianini, Bagnaia’s teammate.

In the championship, Martin, who arrived in Australia with ten points ahead of Bagnaia, now has 16 before the Grand Prix which will be contested on Sunday morning.

A capricious weather

“I thought it would be more difficult with Marc starting just behind a month but after three, four laps I managed to widen the gap even if he came back at the end”declared the winner, who crossed the line 1.5 seconds ahead of Marquez.

This victory in the sprint (13 laps) bodes well for Martin before the Grand Prix on Sunday which will count 27 and will bring in more points. But the weather at Philipp Island, off the coast of Melbourne, is often capricious with rain and sometimes strong winds, like this Saturday and the weather could weigh on the race.

The sprint was marked by a collision between Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati VR46) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) then fighting for fourth place. Their motorcycles flew into the gravel. If Vinales got up unscathed, Bezzecchi had to be evacuated conscious and seated on a stretcher.

Marquez’s comeback

Marc Marquez, starting second on the grid, got off to a bad start to find himself eighth while Jorge Martin immediately took the lead with Marco Bezzecchi behind him, followed by Francesco Bagnaia and the South African Brad Binder (KTM) very off to a good start.

Marquez then began a comeback, finding himself fifth after two laps before passing Binder in a daring maneuver. “For once I go to the front line, I miss my departure”noted the six-time Spanish world champion in disappointment, attributing it to mechanical problems on his machine. “We’ll see tomorrow if I don’t make any mistakes, but I have a very good feeling about the bike and, in the end, I had the same pace as Jorge. »

Bagnaia managed to briefly take second place but was unable to prevent his world championship rival from taking the lead. Martin increased his lead to three seconds at halfway, the duel between Marc Marquez and “Pecco” Bagnaia behind him turning to the Spaniard’s advantage. The double reigning Italian champion was even overtaken by Enea Bastianini.

In the championship, Martin now has 404 points compared to only 388 for Bagnaia. Marc Marquez is further behind with 320 points, tied with Bastianini. There will remain three GPs and as many sprints to compete after the race in Australia on Sunday and everything therefore remains open between Martin and Bagnaia, the outgoing reigning double world champion.

On the French side, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) finished 11e while Johann Zarco (Honda-LCR) fell.

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