Francesco Bagnaia’s thrilling last lap pass gave Alex Rins his fourth MotoGP win at the Australian Grand Prix, his first since the 2020 Aragon Grand Prix. Marquez his Marquez trailed Rins to his second-place finish, pushing the title contender to his third. It was his 139th podium and his fifth-most in the league for Marquez, who was back in action at the Aragon Grand Prix just four times before his round.
“It’s great to get the win,” Rins said on NBC Sports after the race, referring to Suzuki’s impending departure from the series.
The top three finishers passed under the checker less than three-tenths of a second apart.
Disappointed by not winning, Bagnaia left the Australian Grand Prix with a 23-point advantage and could have closed out the championship in Malaysia with another victory. From first place he fell to third, losing nine points in the process.
Still, Bagnaia entered the race two points behind Fabio Quartararo and took a key position in the title chase when Quartararo crashed out on lap 11 of the 27-lap event.
Jorge Martin took the holeshot after starting from pole position, while Marquez and three title contenders, Bagnaia, Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro, also flew off the front grid. Bagnaia lost a few positions in the first few turns, but by the end of Lap 1 he was back in third.
At the end of the first lap, Bagnaia had a three-point lead in the championship battle and maintained the advantage for the remainder of the race.
Quartararo had already slipped through the pack before disaster struck. He ran wide under heavy braking in Turn 4 after dropping to his 7th in his first four laps. The mistake cost him points and dropped him back to 22nd, but he still had the potential to move forward.
Meanwhile, Rins was advancing from a 10th-place qualifier. He was in the top five by lap six, steadily passing riders. Turn 2 was his hot his zone and he took the position three laps in a row.
Quartararo had just returned to the points and was running 15th when he pushed his front wheel into the Southern Loop midway through the race. It was his third scoreless streak in his last four rounds. This is the same corner where Quartararo crashed in 2019, the last time the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix was held before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Up front, Bagnaia moved into second place with his visibility set to maximum points for first place. On lap 15, the new points leader took the lead.
In a seesaw battle, Rins was in front again after dropping to fourth on the last lap. On the final lap, Bagnaia took the lead over Marquez and Rins, with Stoner reversing the order after his bold move in the corner.
Bagnaia closed two points behind Quartararo to give Australia a 14-point lead. Quartararo has been leading the points since Round 5 at Portimao earlier in the season.
the pendulum swung in its favor @PeccoBagnaia ⚔️
I need a new game plan 👀#Australian Grand Prix 🇦🇺 | #MotoGP 📰https://t.co/OwFia5tx9x
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 16, 2022
Espargaro finished ninth, 27 points behind the leaders.
Pole-sitter Martin eventually fell back to seventh.
Marco Bezzecchi finished fourth and Enea Bastianini rounded out the top five. Bastianini remains in contention for the title by 42 points behind him, but will need a lot of help in his final two rounds.
Expecting a strong run in front of the home crowd, Jack Miller was crashed by Alex Marquez at Turn 4 on lap nine.
In Moto 2, Alonzo Lopez outpaced Pedro Acosta by more than 3.5 seconds and Great Britain’s Jake Dixon finished on the podium.
Racing points leader Augusto Fernandez crashed out early in the race in third place. Ai Ogura took the top spot with 11th place.
Seventh-placed Cameron Beauvier was the highest-performing American player.
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