Triumph of Martin’s authority in the Australian sprint
The Spaniard, who led the overall standings in Aragon, had taken undisputed pole three hours earlier, beating his closest pursuer Marc Márquez by more than half a second.
The Catalan from Gresini was second again thanks to a superb comeback he had to make after a rather poor start that saw him lose four places at once. The podium in the sprint was taken by Enea Bastianini, despite starting tenth.
Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin’s direct rival for the title, was unable to keep up with the pace of either the #89 or #93 and was unable to hold off his teammate, who will be wearing an Aprilia suit next year. The defending champion finished fourth and had some luck as he benefited from a terrible crash suffered by Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Viñales behind him.
With two laps to go, the boy from Rosas overtook the VR46 rider thanks to oncoming traffic and both passing the finish line. However, Bezzecchi misjudged his braking timing and took 12th place at the fastest point of the entire circuit.
While awaiting confirmation from the championship’s medical department, the perpetrators of the horrific incident were conscious, with the Italian taking the worst role. In addition to Bezzecchi and Viñales, cold and wind caused destruction and five more accidents; among them Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez.
Overall, Fabio Di Gianantonio finished fifth, already almost eight seconds behind the winner and almost two seconds behind Franco Morbidelli, sixth.
Sixth place went to Raul Fernandez, who finally became the best among the Aprilia representatives. The Trackhouse boy crossed the finish line more than four seconds ahead of Aleix Espargaro, who, however, started 20th.
Augusto Fernandez finished in a superb ninth place, with Luca Marini completing the top ten ahead of Fabio Quartararo.
In addition to Bezzecchi and Vinales, the falls of Johann Zarco, Alex Marquez, Jack Miller, Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder were recorded.
2024 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix Sprint Classification: