2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 17 – Phillip Island – Saturday
Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
MotoGP Sprint Race Quotes
Jorge Martin – P1
“Finally, another Sprint victory. I’m really happy today. I thought it was going to be much more difficult with Marc really close behind me, but I don’t know what happened at the start. I saw it was increasing out of the gap, so I was trying to keep a really fast pace. And yeah, when I saw I had a big gap already, then I managed a bit to make it till the end. It wasn’t easy, the wind, you know, was a lot and it wasn’t constant, it was like coming and going out. So, finally winning again, I’m super happy, and we have to be focussed on tomorrow. It will be a really long race.”
Marc Marquez – P2
“We started the front row just I did a mistake on the turn one. Jorge braked super hard to disengage the front device, very aggressive, and then i didn’t calculate well and I nearly touched him, so then I pick up the bike and with the wind and everything I went wide but yeah the pace was there let’s see if tomorrow we can avoid the mistake of that first corner, but the feeling with the bike was good the pace also was very similar to Jorge so let’s see if tomorrow we can fight with him. No one knows how the second half will be tomorrow, so we need to keep working in order to be ready for it.”
Enea Bastianini – P3
“We managed to be effective in this Sprint Race. Already from the sighting lap, I had noticed that the bike was moving a lot less at the rear-end, and that’s when I knew we could have had a good race. Obviously it wasn’t easy, especially given my starting position, but we managed to make up a lot of ground at the start and to improve our performance lap after lap. I tried to get closer to Marc (Márquez) in the final stages, but he had a little extra in the final laps. For tomorrow, it’ll be important to have the right approach also regarding the tyre choice, and I believe this will shuffle the cards in terms of competition compared to today.”
Pecco Bagnaia – P4
“We decided to make some set-up adjustments both in qualifying and in the race, as I didn’t have the right feeling, but then we ended up in the wrong direction and made things worse in the areas where things were good, while not addressing those in which we felt we had to improve. The pace was not bad to put up a fight, but it was surely worse than yesterday’s and this is why we have to analyse the data and understand how to move forward ahead of tomorrow. I tried to bridge the gap with Jorge (Martín) but the wind was bothering me quite a lot, especially in the fast corners.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P5
(Demoted to P7 for tyre pressure infringement)
“An excellent Sprint, perhaps the best of the year so far. It’s just a shame about the final penalty, it wasn’t needed. I got off to a bad start then I managed to stay calm and slowly climb up the standings. It was great, I had fun, I was really strong and fast. I had good feelings while riding and I made a lot of overtakings We were there with the best riders. I’m positive for tomorrow: we have to get off to a good start and manage the tyres as best as possible. The first ones are within reach, we have to be intelligent.”
Franco Morbidelli – P6
Did not get quote
Raul Fernandez – P7
“Today was really good after yesterday when, for some reason, I didn’t feel fit to ride the bike. It was a difficult decision to stop the practice because at the end, when you are on a kind of track like this that is very particular with a lot of speed, you need to be on track to understand everything. Yesterday I was very disappointed, but it was the best choice. Today I woke up super well and felt good. We did a really good job in wet and dry conditions. I didn’t have the setup ready for the Sprint, because I never tried the hard front tire, but I still used it in the race today. At the end, as we didn’t have any reference, the Sprint was mainly to get information in order to prepare a better bike for tomorrow as we will have a very long race. It’s not easy to manage a race in Phillip Island, especially with many left corners. Overall, it was a really good day and I feel we are ready for tomorrow.”
Aleix Espargaro – P8
“Because it was such a cold morning, I couldn’t get the tyres up to temperature, and as a result, I wasn’t fast in the qualifiers. But in reality, my race pace and the bike weren’t at all bad, and I managed to make a decent comeback.”
Augusto Fernandez – P9
“Conditions were not easy, cold and windy! Our start was not the best, we lost some positions, but I felt good in the group I was in the early laps, the pace was positive too, I could overtake and catch the following rider quite fast. We managed to ride in the low 1’29, which was good, so if we can get a better start tomorrow, maybe we can aim for the group in front.”
Luca Marini – P10
“I am really happy about qualifying in 13th, it was a tricky situation, and we were able to make the most of it. The race today was the toughest situation we have had all weekend; my feeling wasn’t great, and I needed too many laps to warm the rear. In the middle of the race, I felt better and started to make some more progress. We need to improve our feeling with the soft rear, we have a lot of movement on the edge of the tyre at the moment. Even like this we were able to achieve a good finish at the end of the Sprint, so let’s enjoy it more tomorrow!”
Fabio Quartararo – P11
Alex Rins – P12
Joan Mir – P13
“Today was just one of those days where it didn’t quite come together for us. Yesterday I had a lot of optimism for today because the feeling with the bike was better than we were expecting, but today with the wind and the low temperature I was not able to capture this feeling. We changed the setting a bit and probably this didn’t help us because I wasn’t able to push. When things are like this it’s better to play it safe, get some data, bring the bike and myself back and debrief with the team. Tomorrow is a new day, conditions look better and as we saw, a lot can happen, so let’s go for it like always.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P14
“It’s been a difficult day as we’ve had a problem with the bike, and consequently, our plans have changed. The track conditions were hard, and during the Sprint, I struggled from the beginning of it because I could not raise the tyre temperature. Ahead of tomorrow’s race, the conditions should be stable, which would be helpful to push and fight for the points“.
Lorenzo Savadori – P15
“On the final lap, a piece of one of the bikes that had crashed was on track and the rider in front of me picked it up with his bike and it crashed into my arm. For the moment, I’m declared unfit because I don’t have power in the right hand – nothing is broken, but maybe a nerve in the elbow got all the impact, which is why I don’t have strength. Tomorrow morning, I will have to do a medical check to find out if I have enough strength to race. It was a very dangerous situation because I think it was the front fender on the track and I didn’t see it at 340 km/h. I hope that my arm will improve during the night. During the Sprint race, I also did some testing for Aprilia, mainly with the tire choice.”
Brad Binder – DNF
“Not the day I had in mind. I did not put a lap together in qualifying this morning. I did my first two laps and then let the new rear tire cool down too much on the out lap and couldn’t bring it back up. I made a good start in the Sprint but then really struggled in the first laps. Once I settled and improved then we moved forwards. I felt like I was getting faster but unfortunately just locked the front heading into the hairpin. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have a better one.”
Maverick Vinales – DNF
“Luckily I’m fine. I only suffered severe bruising to the nerves in my left elbow, which caused me to lose feeling in my hand, but I am already improving. I am happy with the way the bike performed and my race pace, which was very good. I hope that I can recover in time for the long race, because I know we can win some important points here.”
Marco Bezzecchi – DNF
TBC
Pedro Acosta – DNF
“Hard day on the island, we suffered a big crash, but nothing too serious. We will have to rest tonight and see how I wake up before making a decision for the race. It is difficult to say something. We did not have much dry track time, and I think that missing FP1 was difficult for us because normally we improve things and make steps on the Friday afternoon session. We missed Q2 yesterday, and this morning too, so the story is different when you start from P15. We were coming back progressively in the sprint, but then we crashed unfortunately.”
Jack Miller – DNF
“It could have been a better Saturday. I had a good start in the Sprint from a not-great qualifying position and tipping into Turn 1 off the start a seagull flew into the front of the bike, which wasn’t ideal. I tried to do what I could on the first lap to get rid of it but I couldn’t so I focused on the job at hand, which was racing and it was going good.I felt comfortable and happy, the tyre was almost getting better and better. I made the pass on Brad with a gaping hole in the bike and unfortunately I went into Turn 10 with the same speed as the lap before and she just went away from me. One of those ones.”
Alex Marquez – DNF
“I wasn’t feeling not as comfortable as yesterday already from the morning. Unfortunately here it’s easy for track conditions to change significantly and you need to be good at adapting quickly to these changes. The crash itself isn’t the key thing, it’s more about the feeling which, unlike today, was excellent yesterday. We’ll need a good warm up, even though the long-lap penalty will surely affect our race.”
Johann Zarco – DNF
“I knew it would be difficult because there were many patches. Today, we had potential, and I felt fast and good on the bike. However, after a mistake, when I was trying to catch the rider in front of me, I lost the front on acceleration and crashed. It was a pity that I could not gather much information. Let’s see the conditions of the track tomorrow, but having a good feeling on the bike is already promising”.
Team Managers
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“Not the way we wanted to start the weekend but it definitely was a good start to the race for both riders. Brad crashed while he was in a good position and had good pace. Jack made a super-comeback and was recovering positions. A shame for the crash. It looked like it would have been one of his best Sprint races this season. Let’s try again tomorrow.”
Nicolas Goyon – Tech3 Team Manager
“This weekend in Australia is turning out to be much more difficult than what we expected! One full session cancelled is not ideal for a rookie, so Pedro Acosta got a big disadvantage in that sense. He felt good on the bike, showed good speed, but when he tried to push even more for the lap times in Practice and then qualifying, he could not, and that is coming from the lack of track time. In Q1, he was most of the time in the top 2, but a small mistake in the final flying lap cost him Q2, and a P15 start. Later, he was building his sprint, finding the confidence and preparing for the main race, but unfortunately, he suffered a nasty crash on turn 6, and injured his left shoulder. He will have to rest tonight, and we will have to get another medical check in the morning to see if he is able or not to jump back on the bike. Augusto Fernandez’ feeling was a little bit more positive! From P17, he felt quite comfortable through the race today, and passed a few riders, which is a good sign ahead of tomorrow. He finally got the small reward of a sprint point, which is important. We will see if he can feel good tomorrow too, depending on the weather!”
Wilco Zeelernberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“That was a fired-up Sprint race with a lot of action and congratulations to Jorge Martin because he did a good job. Talking about our boys; Raul finished seventh, coming from sixth on the grid. He lost some places at the start, which was unfortunate because I think he had better pace than he showed in the beginning, but anyway, finishing P7, subsequently P6 after a tire pressure penalty for a rider ahead, in the Sprint race is a fantastic result. Lorenzo tried the medium rear tire to gather information for tomorrow’s race. He struggled a bit to get into his rhythm and also, he got hit by bits from the crash of Maverick (Viñales) and Marco Bezzecchi. The hit was heavy on his arm and he will undergo a medical check to see if he can ride tomorrow. Anyway, both riders finished and with four points for Raul, I think that was a good result.”
Romano Albesiano – Aprilia Racing
“After starting from the front row in Japan, we proved to be competitive again in Australia, as both the factory and satellite bikes showed. Unfortunately, Maverick’s race was clearly unlucky; we hope that in the long race he will be able to recover well after the crash, as his performance could be very strong. As for Aleix, we know he is capable of a good performance and we are looking forward to seeing him in action.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“Let’s start with the positives: Álex was able to obtain a place on the third row. However, the Sprint didn’t go as we wanted nor how we thought it would play out. Fabio and Álex both struggled in today’s Sprint race, and they both gave the same feedback afterwards. The conditions this weekend meant we only had a limited amount of track time, and having only two bikes on the track then becomes a big disadvantage. So, we need to look at today’s data, and we’ll use all the remaining time to work on a solution to improve the general behaviour of the bike, which should help our riders in tomorrow’s Race.”
2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 17 – Phillip Island – Saturday
Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Phillip Island MotoGP Sprint Race Report
Cool conditions greeted the MotoGP riders as they formed up on the grid at Phillip Island on Saturday afternoon. The precipitation was staying away, but an ambient temperature of just under 15-degrees and blustery winds had riders and their crews very concerned in regard to front tyre temperature. And, of course, that meant running a gambit with tyre pressures under the risk of a significant tyre penalty if found under pressure after the race… The track temperature was just over 20-degrees.
For the first time in quite a while, it was not an all-Ducati front row. Maverick Vinales putting the Aprilia on the front row. On pole was Jorge Martin flanked by Marc Marquez. That trio all started on a hard front and soft rear.
Marco Bezzecchi headed the second row and had defending champion Pecco Bagnaia beside him. Raul Fernandez rounding out that second row.
Franco Morbidelli fronted the third row alongside Alex Marquez and Alex Rins.
Home hero Jack Miller started from 16th on the grid behind Pedro Acosta and Johann Zarco.
When the lights went out it was Jorge Martin with the holeshot while Marc Marquez ran very wide into turn one while avoiding Jorge Martin, emerging from Southern Loop down in eighth. Marco Bezzecchi up to second place ahead of Pecco Bagnaia and Brad Binder. Jack Miller inside the top ten by turn four.
Martin had pulled the pin from the off, half-a-second ahead of Bezzechi by the end of lap one. Bagnaia in third, Binder fourth, Bastianini fifth and Marc Marquez up to sixth.
Jorge Martin dropped in a 1m28.392 on his first flying lap to stretch his lead over Bezzecchi to eight-tenths. Marc Marquez squeezed past Enea Bastianini to moive up to fifth place after they both pushed Binder back to sixth place.
Pecco Bagnaia was trying hard to get the better of Bezzecchi but the Pertamina VR46 rider managed to hold his good friend out until they started lap four, Bagnaia sweeping past to take that second place. Martin was just over a second further up the road… Marc Marquez was closing in on Bezzecchi to challenge for a podium result, Bastianini and Binder also not far behind.
Martin quicker again, 1m28.218, but Bagnaia almost matched him with a 1m28.236. The gap between the two championship contenders 1.097 seconds..
Marc Marquez then put in the first 27 of the race, a 1m27.949. He was on the outside of Bezzecchi at Turn Four but Bezzecchi defended well. Bastianini loomed large behind that pair and eager to pounce should either of them make the slightest mistake.
Jorge Martin then put in a 1m27.881 to seemingly break Bagnaia, the gap 1.677 seconds with eight laps to run. Johann Zarco went down at turn nine at this juncture. Alex Marquez down at turn four.
Marc Marquez finally got the better of Bezzecchi and was sniffing the exhaust of Bagnaia’s GP24 in no time…. Martin now led by two-seconds.
Marquez right on the tail of Bagnaia at turn four with seven laps to run, all over the back of the defending champion. That pair now had some breathing space over fourth placed Bastianini. Bezzecchi fifth, Vinales sixth, Di Giannantonio seventh, Binder eight, Morbidelli ninth and Jack Miller rounding out the top ten as they passed half-race distance.
Despite enjoying a hefty lead Jorge Martin dropped the hammer once again on lap seven, a 1m27.831 to stretch further away.
Marc Marquez got Bagnaia at turn four next time around. Basitanini and Bezzecchi had closed right back up on them. Bastianini got Bagnaia at turn ten to move up to third place.
Jack Miller then went down and out of the race, wallking disconsolately away from his stricken RC16 after being struck so hard by a bird that it had gone through his front fairing. The Australian had copped a seagull early on the opening lap which affected his braking potential. Nevertheless he battled on but went down at Turn Ten when passing team-mate Brad Binder.
Pedro Acosta joined him in the gravel a couple of laps later. Brad Binder then also joined the gravel party.
Martin was still in the 27s and had a lead of 3.3-seconds with four laps to run. Bastianini had his head down trying to get in touch with Marc Marquez but the Gresini rider looked to have his measure.
Marc Marquez set a new personal best of 1m27.907 on lap ten but was still 2.8-seconds behind Martin. That pace though was good enough to leave Bastianini in his wake by more than two-seconds.
Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Vinales were tussling over fifth place. Bezzecchi got sucked in under brakes and hit the rear of Maverick’s Aprilia in what was a sickening incident as they started lap 12. Vinales looked to be okay but Bezzecchi was stretchered away, presumably with some lower leg injuries but clearly conscious and sitting up. He was shortly seen returning to the pits on the back of a scooter so obviously not too worse for wear. Nonetheless, Bezzecchi is heading to Melbourne for some further precuationary scans.
Completely unaware of all the carnage that unfolded behind him Jorge Martin cruised home to victory. Total domination. Despite backing off on the final lap at the end of the 13-lap contest his margin over victory still more than 1.5-seconds on Marc Marquez.
Enea Bastianini rounded out the podium a further 2.8-seconds behind, but 2.5-seconds clear of team-mate Pecco Bagnaia.
1. Jorge Martin
2. Marc Marquez +1.520
3. Enea Bastianini +4.368
Fabio Di Giannantonio crossed the line in fifth but was under investigation for tyre pressure. He was later found guilty and demoted behind Franco Morbidelli and Raul Fernandez to seventh.
Only 15 riders finished the race.
Fastest lap of the race was a 1m27.831 on lap seven by Martin. Almost matching his pole position time.
With that dominant victory Jorge Martin extended his championship lead over Pecco Bagnaia to 16-points. Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini are both a further 68-points behind.
Six Ducati riders finished the race and they filled the top six positions in the results.
Pecco Bagnaia quickest through the speed trap in the Sprint at 352.9 km/h. Takaaki Nakagami the slowest at 334.4 km/h.
MotoGP Phillip Island Sprint Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | J Martin | Duc | 19m13.301 |
| 2 | M Marquez | Duc | +1.520 |
| 3 | E Bastianini | Duc | +4.368 |
| 4 | F Bagnaia | Duc | +6.879 |
| 5 | F Giannantonio (demoted to P7 for tyre pressure) | Duc | +7.905 |
| 6 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +9.623 |
| 7 | R Fernandez | Apr | +15.249 |
| 8 | A Espargaro | Apr | +19.280 |
| 9 | A Fernandez | Ktm | +21.126 |
| 10 | L Marini | Hon | +21.194 |
| 11 | F Quartararo | Yam | +21.379 |
| 12 | A Rins | Yam | +21.483 |
| 13 | J Mir | Hon | +23.528 |
| 14 | T Nakagami | Hon | +34.055 |
| 15 | L Savadori | Apr | +38.324 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | M Bezzecchi | Duc | 2 laps |
| DNF | M Vinales | Apr | 2 laps |
| DNF | B Binder | Ktm | 2 laps |
| DNF | P Acosta | Ktm | 3 laps |
| DNF | J Miller | Ktm | 6 laps |
| DNF | A Marquez | Duc | 8 laps |
| DNF | J Zarco | Hon | |
MotoGP Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Martin | 404 |
| 2 | Bagnaia | 388 |
| 3 | Marquez | 320 |
| 4 | Bastianini | 320 |
| 5 | Binder | 183 |
| 6 | Acosta | 181 |
| 7 | Viñales | 163 |
| 8 | Morbidelli | 140 |
| 9 | Di Giannantonio | 139(TBC) |
| 10 | Espargaro | 136 |
| 11 | Bezzecchi | 134 |
| 12 | Marquez | 124 |
| 13 | Quartararo | 86 |
| 14 | Oliveira | 71 |
| 15 | Miller | 66 |
| 16 | Fernandez | 59 |
| 17 | Zarco | 36 |
| 18 | Nakagami | 28 |
| 19 | Fernandez | 21 |
| 20 | Rins | 20 |
| 21 | Mir | 20 |
| 22 | Espargaro | 12 |
| 23 | Marini | 7 |
| 24 | Pedrosa | 7 |
| 25 | 25 Bradl | 2 |
| 26 | 26 Savadori | 0 |
| 27 | 27 Gardner | 0 |
