Martin dominates MotoGP Australian Sprint, multiple riders involved in crashes

Jorge Martin took a dominant victory around Philip Island, claiming glory in the Australian Sprint Race. Meanwhile, multiple riders struggled, having only raced in wet conditions throughout the weekend thus far, with some of them crashing out.

Martin controlled the race from the very beginning, as Francesco Bagnaia came through from fourth on the grid, immediately exiting the first corner in second place, with Marc Marquez running deep into Turn 1, losing a few places.

Marco Bezzecchi would challenge Bagnaia for second place, eventually winning the short-term battle and overtaking the fellow VR46 Academy rider. Bezzecchi would prove difficult to overtake in places, running defensive lines and sitting in the middle of the circuit, making it difficult for riders to fully commit to a move.

Marc Marquez would quickly come back through the field, overtaking multiple riders in quick succession, before putting the Gresini Ducati behind Bezzecchi. The pair would run nose-to-tail for a couple of laps, before Marquez would dive up the inside of the Italian into Turn 4, somehow managing to get the Ducati stopped at the apex to complete the move, setting after Bagnaia for second place.

The reigning champion would begin struggling for tyre grip, as would some of the other riders throughout the field, as Marquez eventually found a way past Bagnaia, with the Italian seriously struggling for grip, later on the same lap, teammate Enea Bastianini would also come through, as Bagnaia fell out of the podium places.

Jorge Martin had stretched the lead throughout the race, completely dominating the Sprint Race, coming through to take the chequered flag waved by Ex-F1 driver Mark Webber. Martin subsequently extends his championship lead over Bagnaia, who came across the line in fourth place.

Meanwhile, in the closing couple of laps, Bezzecchi would lose control of his VR46 Ducati, seemingly looking like a potential ride height device problem, Bezzecchi running right into the back of Maverick Vinales at Turn 1, the Italian being sent airborne and over Vinales’ Aprilia, the pair rolling into the gravel.

As Bezzecchi and Vinales collided, Brad Binder would also crash at Turn 4, with Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez also crashing earlier into the race in unrelated incidents.

These crashes would however, promote Luca Marini into 10th place, one of Marini and Honda’s best results of the season, albeit just one position outside of the points. Augusto Fernandez would take the final point available, an impressive rider for the Spaniard who has typically been seen towards the bottom of the timesheets. Fabio Quartararo would finish 11th as the top Yamaha, leading teammate Alex Rins across the line for 12th as Yamaha continue their struggles, this weekend potentially behind Honda.

Martin extends the lead over Bagnaia in the championship as MotoGP heads into the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday at 04:00am UK Time.

MotoGP Australian Sprint Race – Results

1st Jorge Martin, Prima Pramac
2nd Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
3rd Enea Bastianini, Ducati
4th Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
5th Franco Morbidelli, Prima Pramac
6th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Aprilia
7th Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing
8th Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia
9th Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GasGas KTM
10th Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
11th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
12th Alex Rins, Yamaha
13th Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
14th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
15th Luca Savadori, Trackhouse Racing
DNF Brad Binder, Red Bull Factory KTM
DNF Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
DNF Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing
DNF Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GasGas KTM
DNF Jack Miller, Red Bull Factory KTM
DNF Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
DNF Johann Zarco, LCR Honda

Featured Image: Red Bull Content Pool