Johann Zarco saw the chance of a lifetime when his teammate Jorge Martín, who had lasted the entire race, suddenly ran out of rear tires and lost his risky bet for a chance at the World Championship. The French rider was finally declared winner in his 120th MotoGP career after putting in a stunning final lap in the Australian GP brought forward to Saturday. At 33, the Pramac Ducati rider sparked mixed emotions in the team box and was happy with a more than deserved victory after 19 podiums in the premier class without winning the big prize. As far as the World Championship is concerned, Pecco Bagnaia has a lead (27 points) over Jorge Martín with four races remaining.
There was disappointment in the pits too, with Martín crashing out after dominating the test with an iron fist and finishing fifth after leading all laps. Pecco Bagnaia, his great rival for the title, knew how to overcome the bad feelings on the bike and persevered to finish second on the podium with joy. Fabio DiGiannantonio, who is currently without a motorcycle for next season, also secured his first place in the category with the seat that Marc Márquez will take next year. “Where is he going?” thought the Honda driver, who had also opted for soft rubber, as he watched the title contender drive away at full speed.
One final round that changes EVERYTHING.
One final round that turns EVERYTHING upside down.
One last round that could be worth a WORLD 😱Jorge Martín’s soft tire couldn’t keep up… And he lost a lead of 3 seconds!!#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/X9DVmJswOZ
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) October 21, 2023
The Madrid candidate’s soft rear tire suffered wear and tear during the 27 laps on the track and came to rest on the canvas in the final corner. Martinator was once again the main protagonist of the weekend until, like a week ago in Indonesia, he suddenly missed the chance to confirm his excellent form and position himself as a reference in the championship. When it looked like he was going to be the big winner and steal a good handful of points from the reigning champion, it was the drop in tire performance that took away his joy and left him with further disappointment.
Braking hard into turn four, Zarco unceremoniously put the bike in front of him despite sharing a garage, and Bagnaia took advantage of his confusion to overtake him and take another nine points from him in the standings. “I was just trying to cling to Johann and I took advantage of him overtaking Martín to sneak in,” the number one later admitted. DiGiannantonio and Binder were also responsible for the Spaniard after he was almost three and a half seconds behind throughout the test. Phillip Island, historically a tight circuit, bent to Martín’s will until his last breath on an intense Saturday. The one from San Sebastián de los Reyes took pole position with a record, half a second faster than the others, showing that he had much more than his competitors.
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The man from Madrid attached soft rubber to the rear axle to gain grip and escape, the scenario he expected for the test. He managed to do this, and after maintaining first place at the start, he was soon able to outpace the others by more than a second. At the halfway point of the Grand Prix, he overtook Binder and the rest of his pursuers by three seconds. “Jorge has a little more than the rest,” admitted Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati sports director, before the start. However, the fastest person is the one who reaches the finish line first. “We didn’t make the right decision, now it’s easy to see from the outside. “I didn’t expect the rubber to wear off,” analyzed Martín. “It is clear that from now on we will have to use the same weapons without exception,” he added. Lesson learned.
With five laps to go, Martín was 2.5 seconds ahead of his pursuers, but it was clear that the bike was increasingly struggling. The rest smelled of blood, and on the penultimate lap Zarco appeared to outwit his teammate by taking second and keeping Bagnaia at bay. The Frenchman had a different idea and saw Martinator’s decline very clearly. He didn’t hesitate to give it his all to get his first victory, shaving more than a second off a lap to get within range and secure the glory.
“It is a good feeling. It’s hard to believe, but this first victory is finally here,” explained Zarco in parc ferme. Now that he’s leaving Ducati for the satellite Honda, the Cannes rider has paid real homage to one of MotoGP’s most complex and beautiful circuits. The Italian designer had not won here since 2010 with Casey Stoner. As Moto2 champion in 2016, he hadn’t tasted the sweetness of victory for seven years. “I needed at least one win with the best MotoGP bike. When the rest of my teammates came to congratulate me, I was really touched,” commented the experienced rider, the fifth Frenchman to win in the premier class.
On an atypical weekend, as the competition had not been held on a Saturday since 2015, the result was shocking. Bagnaia, who was up to his neck in water and had to get through the first round of qualifying to secure his third place on the grid, did it wisely and extended his lead over Martín at the top of the world championship. “We are always there, in good times and bad,” he celebrated. The Italian is now 27 points ahead of the Spaniard, who had one lap to go and another crash, this time due to the performance of his rear tire, and took the lead. Márquez decided to squeeze the maximum out of ten laps and finished fifth, knowing full well that the pace imposed by each peak of the race would destroy his rubber. He finished 15th, excluding the days left on the Japanese tortoise’s back.
Dorna took advantage of the better precision of the weather forecast on Sunday to bring the three remaining races of the weekend forward by an hour to beat the storm. The Moto3 test takes place on the peninsula at one a.m., the Moto2 test at 2:15 a.m. and the MotoGP sprint at 4:00 a.m. Strong gusts of wind and possible rain are expected, which is why it was decided to exceptionally swap the contest of the long race with the sprint.
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