Marco Bezzecchi won the MotoGP Tissot Sprint race Saturday afternoon at Phillip Island, in Australia. Riding his Aprilia Racing RS-GP25 on Michelin control tires, the Italian won the 13-lap race by 3.149 seconds.
Raul Fernandez was the runner-up on his Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP25.
Pedro Acosta finished third on his Red Bull KTM Factory RC16.
Home hero, Jack Miller was fourth on his Prima Pramac Yamaha YZR-M1.
Fabio Di Giannantonio got fifth on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Ducati Desmosedici GP25.
Poleman Fabio Quartararo crossed the finish line 7th on his Monster Energy Yamaha YZR-M1.
Marc Marquez leads the championship with 545 points, 179 ahead of Alex Marquez who has 366 points. Francesco Bagnaia is third with 274 points.
Classification sprint
worldstanding motogp
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Bezzecchi delivers brilliance to take gold in Phillip Island Sprint. Part 1 is all done and with victory by more than three seconds after 13 laps, is the #72 a favourite despite his double Long Lap Penalty on Sunday?
Back-to-back Sprint victories have been completed for Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and although the Italian didn’t make it easy for himself, he came through with three laps to go on Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) to take the win. Rounding out the Sprint rostrum was Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) with P3 to P5 being covered by a tenth of a second.
OPENING ENCOUNTERS: surprise holeshot and a new leader
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) got the initial launch and holeshot but by Turn 2, Fernandez had got his way to the front and led the opening lap. He was ahead of pre-Sprint favourite Bezzecchi, who had extra wings on his Aprilia courtesy of a rather unfortunate encounter with seagulls on the Warm Up Lap. Polesitter Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had dropped to sixth behind Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Pedro Acosta, whilst the #37’s teammate, Brad Binder, crashed out at Turn 2 on Lap 1.
As Fernandez and Bezzecchi stretched away in an Aprilia 1-2, the battle was intensifying over P3, with Alex Marquez coming under increasing pressure from Miller, Acosta, Quartararo, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) doing a great job in P7. Lap 5 saw Miller and Marquez exchange places at Turn 10 and then at Turn 1. In the battle at the front, Bezzecchi had a huge moment going down into Turn 10, narrowly avoiding race leader Fernandez. In the fight for third on Lap 7, Acosta took both Miller and Marquez at Turn 1.
RECOVERING: Bezzecchi pounces on Fernandez
By Lap 9, ‘Bez’ was back on Fernandez’s rear wheel and had much more pace than the #25 and pounced at Turn 2 on Lap 10. On Lap 11, Indonesian Grand Prix winner Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crashed out at Turn 6 but was all OK and walked away. Onto the last lap and with Bezzecchi and Fernandez locked into the top two positions, it was a true head-to-head between Acosta, Miller and Di Giannantonio for the final place on the podium.
ACROSS THE LINE: the first Aprilia 1-2 in a Sprint
Bezzecchi lived up to his tag of pre-Sprint favourite and got the job done for a second Saturday in a row, whilst Fernandez also made it two Sprint podiums on the spin, making it the first Aprilia 1-2 in a Tissot Sprint. Acosta resisted late pressure from Miller and Di Giannantonio and held onto third on the run to the line, the first Sprint without a Ducati in the top three.
Behind the top five, Alex Marquez was the best for the Italian manufacturer in sixth, dropping back after a blistering start. Quartararo was seventh and will hope for a better time of things on Sunday, whilst Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) and Espargaro completed the points. Outside of the points, Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) climbed to tenth whilst at the back, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and temporary teammate Michele Pirro in what was a Sprint to forget for the #63 and #51. Pecco’s 19th place combined with Bezzecchi’s win means that there are just eight points splitting them in the battle for third overall.