The Aprilia rider takes the third victory over the short distance. Fernandez beaten, Acosta third. The best Ducati is that of Di Giannantonio, fifth. Pecco, only nineteenth, was also penalized for obstructing Bezzecchi and on Sunday he will start from the fifth row
Marco Bezzecchi scores a hat trick in the Sprints: after the victories in Misano and Mandalika, the Italian also wins the victory in the short race in Australia. The triumph at Phillip Island comes after an all-Aprilia derby with Raul Fernandez. The Spaniard from the Trackhouse team confirms his progress after the Indonesian round. The growth of the RS-GPs appears dramatic on a day when Ducati is clearly struggling. Third place goes to Pedro Acosta on Ktm, while the best rider of the Emilian brand is Fabio Di Giannantonio, fifth. Disaster for Francesco Bagnaia, who finished nineteenth.
THE RACE
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There are 13 laps to tackle. The pole is signed by Quartararo, author of the record on the Phillip Island track with a time of 1’26″465. The Yamaha party, completed by the third time of Miller, behind Bezzecchi, however, does not last long. At the start the poleman loses ground, while Alex Marquez’s starting point from sixth place is good. The Gresini rider soon gives up the lead to Fernandez, then followed by Bezzecchi. The two Aprilias take off. Marco tries to attack on the sixth pass, but ends up off course and loses ground. The assault on the top is only postponed: Bezzecchi sets the fastest lap in the race on the eighth lap and returns to the exhaust of the RS-GP Trackhouse. The winning overtaking came four passes from the end. Behind them, however, the challenge for third position heats up, later conquered by Acosta. Fourth was an amazing Miller, who finished ahead of Di Giannantonio, author of a great comeback. Marquez is sixth, while Quartararo, Marini and Pol Espargaro also take points. An anonymous race for Bagnaia, who was immediately in difficulty and dropped significantly as the laps went by. Pecco finishes second to last, preceding only the tester Pirro.
THE QUALIFICATIONS
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There was no shortage of emotions during qualifying too. Fifth pole of the season for Quartararo. With Miller third, Yamaha placed two bikes on the front row as has not happened since Assen 2021. Furthermore, three controversial episodes occurred. Controversy initially triggered by Brad Binder: the South African, thirteenth and first of those excluded in Q1 by just 29 thousandths, appeared too slow on the racing line, involuntarily hindering Zarco. And shortly before he had risked being rear-ended by Savadori, perhaps surprised by the KTM rider’s excessive slowdown. Nervousness was also palpable in Q2, when Bezzecchi was held back by a Bagnaia who was also too slow. The Aprilia rider didn’t like it, complaining to Pecco, who then set the eleventh fastest time. Both Binder and Bagnaia will pay a three-place grid penalty. The fine will be served on Sunday. Thanks to the uncertain weather, the program will be postponed by an hour: Moto3 will start at 3 Italian time, followed by Moto2. The MotoGP race will start at 6.
Here is the top class lineup in the long race: 1 Quartararo (Fra/Yamaha); Bezzecchi (Ita/Aprilia); Miller (Aus/Pramac Yamaha) 2 R. Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia); Acosta (Spa/Ktm); A. Marquez (Spa/Gresini Ducati) 3 Aldeguer (Spa/Gresini Ducati); P. Espargaro (Spa/Tech3 Ktm); Marini (Ita/Honda) 4 Di Giannantonio (Ita/VR46 Ducati); Rins (Spa/Yamaha); Mir (Spa/Honda) 5 Zarco (Fra/Lcr Honda); Bagnaia (Ita/Ducati); Oliveira (Por/Pramac Yamaha) 6 Binder (Saf/Ktm); Morbidelli (Ita/VR46 Ducati); Ogura (Japan/Trackhouse Aprilia) 7 Savadori (Ita/Aprilia); Bastianini (Ita/Tech3 Ktm); Chantra (Thai/Lcr Honda) 8 Pirro (Ita/Ducati)
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