MotoGP

Marquez divebombs Martin to win MotoGP's Australian GP

by Megan White
2 min read

Marc Marquez put in a stunning charge to victory in MotoGP’s Australian Grand Prix, bouncing back from outside the top 10 to take his third win for Gresini after a bizarre incident on the start line.

The six-time MotoGP champion secured his fourth win at Phillip Island after a case of unintentional early self-sabotage - discarding a visor tear-off at the start and having it get lodged under his rear wheel.

Marquez immediately noticed the potential for trouble but ran out of time to try and remove the tear-off, with his start then devolving into massive wheelspin. He was fighting three-abreast for 13th coming into the first corner.

But he made a quick recovery to sixth by the second lap before continuing to cut through the field, and was back inside the podium places by lap six.

A fierce battle ensued with title rivals Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, with the trio all leading at moments during lap 12.

Bagnaia ultimately finished a lonely third. He ran second in the early going, promoted into the spot by Marco Bezzecchi's long-lap penalty - assessed after his crash with Maverick Vinales on Saturday.

Bagnaia was then briefly in the lead before a Martin counter-attack relegated him to third - and he soon found himself unable to run with the leading duo.

The battle for the win played out over several laps, as Martin - seemingly tipped off to expect a Turn 4 (Miller) attack by his team via dashboard communications - soaked up the pressure from Marquez.

He eventually made an error at Turn 4 to let Marquez through, and reclaimed the lead at Turn 1 (Doohan) on the next lap only to fall prey to Marquez's aggressive and ultimately race-winning Turn 4 move.

Martin now leads the standings by 20 points with three rounds remaining, with Marquez a further 59 points back in third.

Bezzecchi crashed shortly after serving his penalty. His VR46 team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth at the finish after a late tussle with Enea Bastianini, Franco Morbidelli and KTM’s Brad Binder, who was seventh behind a Ducati 1-2-3-4-5-6.

Maverick Vinales was eighth for Aprilia, having lined up third before dropping back early on, ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who made up nine places. Raul Fernandez rounded off the top 10 for Trackhouse Aprilia.

As Bezzecchi's fall wasn't enough to take him out of the race, Joan Mir was the event's sole crash retirement, while Trackhouse stand-in Lorenzo Savadori joined him in the DNF column, pulling into the pits due to the lingering effects of his debris injury from Saturday.

Pedro Acosta, meanwhile, was absent entirely due to lingering shoulder pain from his sprint crash.

Australian GP results

1. Marc Marquez
2. Jorge Martin
3. Pecco Bagnaia
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio
5. Enea Bastianini
6. Franco Morbidelli
7. Brad Binder
8. Maverick Vinales
9. Fabio Quartararo
10. Raul Fernandez
11. Jack Miller
12. Johann Zarco
13. Alex Rins
14. Luca Marini
15. Alex Marquez
16. Aleix Espargaro
17. Augusto Fernandez
18. Takaaki Nakagami
19. Marco Bezzecchi
DNF. Joan Mir
DNF. Lorenzo Savadori

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