World championship leader Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) won the Sprint race of the Australian round of the MotoGP world championship on Saturday, with his closest rival Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) finishing only fourth.
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. On the French side, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) finished 11th while Johann Zarco (Honda-LCR) fell.
“I thought it would be more difficult with Marc (Marquez, editor’s note) starting right behind me 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 his compatriot.
Bezzecchi and Viñales at fault
The race was marked by a collision between Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati VR46) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) then fighting for fourth place, their motorcycles flying off into the gravel. If Vinales got up unscathed, Bezzecchi had to be evacuated conscious on a stretcher.
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.
Marc Marquez then began a comeback, finding himself fifth after two laps before passing Binder in a daring maneuver. Bagnaia overtook Bezzecchi for second place but was unable to prevent his world championship rival from taking the lead.
Martin increased his lead to three seconds halfway through the race, the duel between Marc Marquez and “Pecco” Bagnaia behind him turning to the Spaniard’s advantage, with the double reigning Italian champion even being overtaken by Enea Bastianini.
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