2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 17 – Phillip Island – Sunday
Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
MotoGP riders reflect on Australian GP
Marc Marquez – P1
“Yeah, you know, in the end, the start was my fault, because it’s not a rule, but with the riders always, we speak to try to avoid, to remove the tear off on the grid, for you, and also for the others, but this time I didn’t have a choice, because as we know here in Australia, the insects are super big, some of them. And when I was putting the front device, the hole shot, one big insect was in the screen, and it was like a film, you know, and then I was looking the lights, and I cannot see clear, and I said, I will arrive on the first corner, and I will not have time, so I decided to remove, because I say, with the wind, go away, but goes to my rear wheel. On that moment, I didn’t realise a lot. I saw that it went there, but I say, super unlucky. It was like this.
“Yeah, I mean, when I was 13th on the first corner, I don’t know, I was in the end of the straight, and I saw Marini, I say, I’m far, I’m far. I don’t know where I am, but I’m far. And then in two corners, I went again in a good place. Then I decided to, because here you need to manage the tyre, but I decided to use all the tyre, say, let’s see what we can do. And I use a lot the tyre on the first laps to have that come back, to try to catch, especially Pecco, second was my target, because Martin, we had a very similar pace, and Bastianini had more to catch him. So yeah, when I saw that Martin also was there, then I started to realise about the victory, and yeah, in the last laps, I was. was there just trying to manage everything, the energy, all these things.
“You know, this kind of circuit, when you have a lot of stop -and -goes with the aerodynamics we have now, you cannot do this kind of races. But here in Phillip Island, you don’t have hard braking points. You can follow the others in a good way. And this is one of my strong points in the riding style. And yeah, in fact, when I was behind Martin, I was super comfortable. I was riding in an easy way, we can say. Not easy, but… I was smooth and managing always the distance and waiting until that last lap.”
Jorge Martin – P2
“For sure, it was a great weekend doing the pole position, winning yesterday and today on the podium. Anyway, I wanted to win. I tried my best. I was really focused on the pace, trying to make these 27s, but actually, the feeling wasn’t like yesterday. I was struggling a lot to put the power on the ground. I was slipping a lot from the rear. And yeah, at the middle of the race, I started to feel a bit better, but then I almost crashed in corner one, so they catch me. Even Pecco overtook me, but straight away, I was attacking. And yeah, I feel we did a good job. At the end, I tried to be close to Marc. I tried to be on first position for the last few laps, but I think he had nothing to lose, so it was much more difficult from my side to battle. Anyway, I tried to be a bit close, but he had something else. But yeah, I’m happy how the weekend went and really looking forward for Thailand. Yeah, I think turn four was the only point where he was stronger than me. I was struggling a lot with the front right side tyre. I was really suffering a lot of oversteering, so it was difficult. From the fifth lap, sixth lap, I started to struggle there. So the only point was corner four. Then he made the move. Anyway, I feel, I am fast again. I am really competitive, so this is what I take from Australia.”
Pecco Bagnaia – P3
“We managed to improve from yesterday. Yesterday, it was tougher because we went in the wrong direction with the stopping off the bikes, and it was critical and more difficult, so I was struggling a lot. Today, it was, starting this morning, that I felt much better with the setting, and I was happy. But then in race, as soon as I started to, I finished the front tyre, I was struggling a lot to follow them. So I had to slow down and the margin with the guys behind was huge because we were having, in that moment, seven-seconds, I think. I opened it till 8.1, 8.2, but then I had to completely slow down because I was risking the same to crash, so I had to slow down and nothing. More than this was tough. They did a better job than us from yesterday because I think Friday we did a good job and we were very close, but then yesterday we went wrong with our set-up and they did a better step in front, and we just missed it today. It was more that I had to force a lot the front to let me turn with the bike. I was forcing it a lot because my bike was letting me go more wide and it was more important to remain close to the kerb, like Jorge was doing or Marc. We have to say that Marc was even another step in front, so let’s understand why and in which area we’re doing the difference, but luckily, understanding before the race was important because if not, I was finishing out of the podium.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P4
“I think it was the best race of the year, we were really strong and we just missed the podium for a breath. If I think about the qualifying, I mean the crash, today could have been a different race. It was a great race t, we knew we had a great potential. I lost maybe a bit of time in the small group, I was a bit in a trouble with the maps, but then I managed to get into the lead and overtake the others. I ride well, I came back aggressive, fast, but I also managed the tires very well. I’m a bit sorry about the podium, it’s the goal for this 2024 with the Team, it wasn’t far today. In terms of performance it was a great weekend, I have to be optimistic: after the injury, we managed to get back into a growth trend, we maximised our technical package and we’re back to an excellent level now.”
Enea Bastianini – P5
“The expectations were a lot higher, but already from the start I had noticed that the feeling was not the best. My lap-times were a lot slower compared to the warmup: I was unable to push, and the front tucked on many occasions. It didn’t go as I’d hoped and it’s a pity. In light of how both yesterday’s race and this morning’s warm up went, I was expecting a better performance, but unfortunately it turned out to be more a challenge than we had foreshadowed. We need to understand what happened before turning our attention on the next races starting from Thailand, where we’ll try to bounce back.”
Franco Morbidelli – P6
TBC
Brad Binder – P7
“I tried my best from the beginning until the end. This morning we put in a different aero package for the dry conditions and the bike was turning a bit better. That was good and positive for the race and we could try to carry a bit more speed. I managed to stick with the boys for a while but when they dropped the pace at the end I couldn’t quite go with them. We learned a lot this weekend and we made another small step but obviously we need more to get closer.”
Maverick Vinales – P8
“The race went well, we made the most of the potential of the bike, but sadly it just wasn’t enough. My left arm was feeling better, but my back started to hurt. There was no physical limitation, we just couldn’t manage to get enough speed.”
Fabio Quartararo – P9
“I had a really good start, but unfortunately the first part of the Race was difficult. I had some near highsides, and I couldn’t keep up with the pace of the front guys. The second part of the Race was really good, and I can be happy because especially the last ten laps were really nice. I think there are some things we can learn from this Race.”
Raul Fernandez – P10
“I’m really happy with our race. We made a big mistake at the start and we lost five or six seconds to the second group but, after that, I had the same pace as them nearly all the race. We had a lot of wheelie from the start and for some reason, I couldn’t go further to the front and I had to close the throttle so there I lost many places but, in the last part of the race, I was catching them. I’m happy with our pace, basically, it was a really good race for us and we just need to understand what we have to do to start well because at the end of the day, this is the key in MotoGP. I was starting from the second row, but at the end of the first lap I was in P13 and it’s quite difficult to overtake although, finally, my pace was good and this is the positive part of the weekend that I take to Thailand.”
Jack Miller – P11
“As always, it was bloody good to get back to the Island! We race in a bunch of places all around the world, although there is nothing quite like sending it for a lap around Phillip Island, especially when you’ve got the crowd behind you. In typical Phillip Island fashion, we enjoyed a bunch of different seasons across the weekend, with things getting a little weird on Friday when we didn’t get out for FP1 due to the conditions.
“Managed to get past that when the weather cleared up a bit for FP2, which was nice to get some rubber down on the track. I didn’t execute a clean lap in that session so the lap time was a bit average, but I felt pretty good wrapping up that one.
“They did a bit of work to PI since the last time with new asphalt, which offered up heaps of grip whilst keeping some of the same bumps, which made it super fun and even more of a blast to let it rip.
“Saturday came around, and there’s no doubt we could’ve had a better one! I got off to a good start in the Sprint Race after a rough qualifying, only to have a seagull hit the front of my bike and do some damage into Turn 1…
“Definitely not ideal. From there as the tyre was improving I started to feel more comfy. Made some headway, and then sadly put it down into Turn 10 and that was all she wrote. Disappointing one, although another chance for a good crack in the Race.
“Got a mega jump in the Feature Race on the inside and was somewhere in the top six before another rider cut in on me, and sent me back down to last place… Put in a hard fight to come back, and I did make a lot of ground, but with three laps to go, the front was cooked. Did what I could to battle the boys at the end although no cigar, would’ve been nice to capitalise on that start but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
“A quick mention of my absolutely killer kit we had down in PI. The gear looked amazing and was special in reflecting the family life we get to live here in Australia, which I really cherish. Thanks to all the fans who came out to the Island, you all made it so special and I’m already psyched to get back here next year!”
Johann Zarco – P12
“I’m happy; it’s been a positive race. Of course, I wanted to reach the top 10, but rivals didn’t make it easy, so I pushed as much as possible. In any case, we’ve confirmed our step forward in a different track this weekend. I could keep a fast and constant pace, and this is positive”.
Alex Rins – P13
“I’m satisfied about what we did in today’s Race. We gave it our 100%. But what I’m not 100% satisfied about is the result. It’s true that we improved the bike a little bit by changing some things. The gap was a little bit less compared to the Sprint race, but we need to keep working. We still have some problems, which the team has already identified, but now we need time to solve them.”
Luca Marini – P14
“I am satisfied with our weekend, quite happy. The race was incredible, the pace was unbelievable and when you are riding here with the sun like it was – it is just a pleasure. At the start it was a bit chaotic, I lost some positions when I got pushed wide and I needed to work very hard to warm the left side of the tyre – this meant we couldn’t fight in the start. When the rear was ready, I was able to be very competitive on the times, but the other riders were quite far. My feeling is improving every race and I’m very motivated for the next race already. When we look at the picture of the season, we have to be happy with where we have arrived to.”
Alex Marquez – P15
“I got hit by an opponent at turn one and dropped down to last position. I then overtook two riders before performing the long-lap penalty and was back to last once again. We scored one point and we’re eager to get back in action in Thailand and Malaysia… We’re struggling a bit too much in recent races and it’s time to keep pushing in order to finish the year with the best feeling.”
Aleix Espargaro – P16
“I started really well, but unfortunately a contact on the first lap with Jack Miller as I was braking into the 10th corner broke the sidepod, putting me at the back of the pack. Making up ground from so far back is tricky, and of course it affects the outcome of the race. I tried to go as fast as I could; actually, my pace in some of the laps was pretty good. The breakage of the sidepod really didn’t help, especially because it made the bike unstable.”
Augusto Fernandez – P17
“Tough race, I expected much better to be honest after yesterday’s sprint. The conditions were better, dry and sunny, less wind, so it was a really fast race. Our feeling was not the same. There were moments when I felt good, but I could not hold that rhythm all race long. Let’s analyse everything and see if there are some things to bring to the next race to continue improving in Thailand.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P18
“The first laps of the race were complicated; I couldn’t be as fast as I wanted. However, as the laps went by, I could understand the situation and keep a constant pace. Overall, we need to improve our performance at the beginning of the race“.
Marco Bezzecchi – P19
“I don’t have much to say, we had a lot of potential, but we didn’t bring home much. There were two big crashes especially the one of yesterday and I’m painful on the left shoulder. Today I could have done well, despite the long lap, but then I made a mistake. I’m very sorry and I can’t wait to turn the page in Thailand.”
Joan Mir – DNF
“Things out of our control limited our race today. We entered the weekend with a lot of confidence because I like this circuit a lot, but our feeling never improved. At the end of the race, I went to overtake Aleix Espargaro because I saw Nakagami was coming, but the rear was moving a lot and I fell. I am okay. We go to the next race and aim to do our best as always. It’s all we can do, keep working for the future.”
Lorenzo Savadori – DNF
“Unfortunately, I had to retire because of yesterday’s incident in the Sprint race. My nerve, in the left elbow, was very painful after I had this big impact and like yesterday, I also didn’t have any power. This morning I had to do the medical check for a fitness assessment and I got declared fit because I felt better. But after three, four laps, I started to struggle with less power in the hand and it started to be a risk, so I had to retire. It was an unlucky weekend for this reason and I hope to arrive at 100 per cent in Thailand. The doctors said I will be fine there, I just need to rest a bit and take some anti-inflammatories.”
Team Managers
Pablo Nieto – Pertamina VR46 Team Manager
“What a great race by Fabio, I am really happy for him because the decision he made to undergo surgery is not easy for a rider to accept. I am convinced that this result will help him even more to understand how much he can achieve in the future. His race was clever and in the end he was able to impose himself in his group managing to hit another very important placing. A real shame about Marco race: yesterday the crash was really tough, but today he had all the credentials to get a great satisfaction. After the penalty he tried to recover immediately, not to lose ground. He showed that he is increasingly closer to the strongest riders and he must leave these GP behind him as soon as possible to return among the most competitive in Thailand.”
Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing
“This weekend, we’ve seen good speeds from the Aprilia bikes with both Maverick and Raúl. Again, the first lap was punishing, but the pace required to get closer to the podium was there. The terrible accident in the sprint, when Maverick was unexpectedly hit from behind at 300 km/h, blighted the weekend. Aleix started Friday a bit slow, which is unusual for him. It’s a shame we didn’t manage to get more points here in Australia. Now we’re heading to a track that will give us the opposite conditions, and on paper, they are less than favourable for us, but there’s no doubt that we’ll go with the attitude that we’re not giving up, and with the goal of closing the gap.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“A step better than yesterday. Brad was just off the leading group and lost a bit of confidence with the rear tire in the last two laps which stopped him fight for that 4th place but it was a good race with a lot of overtaking and a strong pace also. Jack had very good start but he ran into some traffic on the first corner. He recovered and managed to get near the top ten. He deserved more because his pace was better.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“This was a difficult race weekend for us, but today we ended it in a better way than we started it. Though there is still plenty to work on, our riders were more competitive in today’s dry and warmer conditions. Fabio had an impressive start and end to his race, and it was good to see him fight and overtake. Álex had a similar pace to Fabio, so he too made a step in the right direction today. It was just a shame that he was missing something at the end that prohibited him from engaging in battle. We will carefully analyse today’s data as we prepare for next week’s Thailand GP.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“It was a difficult day for Lorenzo. Yesterday he got hit by a part off the track on his arm during the Sprint race. It was quite an impact because it happened on the main straight and he suffered during the race with pain in the arm and didn’t have the strength he needed to change direction and brake, so he came in and retired. Raul did a fantastic race – he had good pace and ended in P10. A top 10 is, at the moment, like a victory for us. Of course, he was a long time in ninth, some people crashed in front of him, but his pace was really good and especially at the end of the race, he was consistent. He has struggled to do that the whole season and we are very happy with that.”
Davide Brivio – Trackhouse Team Principal
“First of all, it was a pity that Lorenzo couldn’t finish the race but we are grateful to him for trying despite the fact that it was difficult with the pain from yesterday. Let’s hope he will be OK for next week. We had a good race with Raul, although he had some difficulties at the start as we expected and he lost some positions. But he was able to recover well, and he also kept good pace and has been fast until the end. I think it was a positive – finishing in the top 10 is always good. It was a good weekend overall, considering that we missed the Friday almost completely and he only had a very short time on the track. So, good job, good weekend and we are looking forward to the next round in Thailand.”
Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Team Manager
“Another tricky weekend for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 MotoGP team in Australia. After yesterday’s crash, Pedro Acosta was in pain. Nothing broken was detected after his check, but he needed to be reviewed this morning. Unfortunately, he still felt a lot of pain when he woke up, and it was decided that he should not race for safety reasons, and take further examinations. We should have more info in the next couple of hours. That meant we just had one rider on the grid. We expected a little bit more from Augusto Fernandez to be honest after his sprint race and the positive comments, but he again felt some issues in the main race, and 17th was the best he could do today. It is a disappointment on both sides of the garage of course. All we can do is wish a speedy recovery to Pedro, as we hope to see him in Thailand next week, while we will continue to help Augusto so he can perform as best as he can for the last races. Let’s pack and head to Buriram in Thailand for the next round next week.”
Piero Taramasso – Michelin
“I won’t hide the fact that we were worried at the start of the weekend about the unknown of the new asphalt at Phillip Island. As we didn’t have the opportunity to test beforehand we brought an expanded tyre package, which for this circuit are asymmetric at both the front and rear. For the front, the MICHELIN Power Slicks, available in Soft, Medium and Hard with a reinforced left side, were made from the usual construction. We therefore only adapted the rubber compounds to the track. At the rear, the riders could count on a Soft tyre which was equivalent to the 2023 Medium, made from a standard construction, as well as two stiffer specifications with a reinforced casing. Given that the Phillip Island circuit generates a lot of heat, we were eagerly awaiting the tests to assess the ability of the Soft rear tyre to withstand the stresses of the circuit over the entire duration of the Grand Prix. However, due to the vagaries of the weather, this confirmation only came after the Tissot Sprint. In the race, the Soft rear tyre, coupled with a Hard front, allowed Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin to offer the public a breathtaking duel, as well as breaking all records. The pace and consistency of the lap times was remarkable, and at the finish line, the degree of wear perfectly met our expectations.”
Phillip Island MotoGP Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | M Marquez | Duc | 39m47.702 |
| 2 | J Martin | Duc | +0.997 |
| 3 | F Bagnaia | Duc | +10.100 |
| 4 | F Giannantonio | Duc | +12.997 |
| 5 | E Bastianini | Duc | +13.310 |
| 6 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +15.434 |
| 7 | B Binder | KTM | +15.450 |
| 8 | M Viñales | Apr | +16.636 |
| 9 | F Quartararo | Yam | +18.757 |
| 10 | R Fernandez | Apr | +19.345 |
| 11 | J Miller | KTM | +19.932 |
| 12 | J Zarco | Hon | +20.295 |
| 13 | A Rins | Yam | +22.210 |
| 14 | L Marini | Hon | +24.239 |
| 15 | A Marquez | Duc | +24.591 |
| 16 | A Espargaro | Apr | +30.499 |
| 17 | A Fernandez | KTM | +30.533 |
| 18 | T Nakagami | Hon | +30.765 |
| 19 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | +45.393 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | J Mir | Hon | 2 laps |
| DNF | L Savadori | Apr | 10 laps |
MotoGP Top Speeds
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed |
| 1 | E Bastianini | Duc | 355.2 |
| 3 | F Bagnaia | Duc | 350.6 |
| 4 | M Viñales | Apr | 349.5 |
| 5 | F Giannantonio | Duc | 349.5 |
| 6 | J Martin | Duc | 349.5 |
| 8 | M Marquez | Duc | 349.5 |
| 9 | J Zarco | Hon | 348.4 |
| 10 | F Morbidelli | Duc | 348.4 |
| 11 | A Espargaro | Apr | 348.4 |
| 12 | J Miller | Ktm | 348.4 |
| 13 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | 347.3 |
| 14 | A Marquez | Duc | 346.1 |
| 15 | L Marini | Hon | 345.0 |
| 16 | R Fernandez | Apr | 345.0 |
| 17 | B Binder | Ktm | 345.0 |
| 18 | J Mir | Hon | 345.0 |
| 19 | A Rins | Yam | 344.0 |
| 20 | F Quartararo | Yam | 340.7 |
| 21 | A Fernandez | Ktm | 339.6 |
| 22 | T Nakagami | Hon | 337.5 |
| 23 | L Savadori | Apr | 335.4 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Martin | 424 |
| 2 | Bagnaia | 404 |
| 3 | Marquez | 345 |
| 4 | Bastianini | 331 |
| 5 | Binder | 192 |
| 6 | Acosta | 181 |
| 7 | Viñales | 171 |
| 8 | Morbidelli | 151 |
| 9 | Di Giannantonio | 150 |
| 10 | Espargaro | 136 |
| 11 | Bezzecchi | 134 |
| 12 | Marquez | 125 |
| 13 | Quartararo | 93 |
| 14 | Miller | 71 |
| 15 | Oliveira | 71 |
| 16 | Fernandez | 66 |
| 17 | Zarco | 40 |
| 18 | Nakagami | 28 |
| 19 | Rins | 23 |
| 20 | Fernandez | 21 |
| 21 | Mir | 20 |
| 22 | Espargaro | 12 |
| 23 | Marini | 9 |
| 24 | Pedrosa | 7 |
| 25 | 25 Bradl | 2 |
| 26 | 26 Gardner | 0 |
| 27 | 27 Savadori | 0 |
