2024 Australian MotoGP: Marquez beats Martin in thrilling duel, Bagnaia third
Marquez gets third grand prix win of 2024 after exciting tussle with Martin in final laps
Marc Marquez recovered from an abysmal start to beat Jorge Martin in a thrilling late duel at the 2024 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix, while Francesco Bagnaia struggled to third.
The Gresini rider got massive wheelspin off the line when his own visor tear-off got stuck under his rear Michelin soft tyre and plummeted from second to outside of the top 10 at Turn 1.
Getting back into the top six by the start of lap two, Marquez’s march towards the front continued, with the latter laps becoming a tense duel between himself and championship leader Martin.
The pair traded the lead three times in the latter stages, with a massive lunge into Turn 4 proving the decisive move for Marquez on lap 25 of 27.
He ultimately took the chequered flag 0.997s clear of Martin to score his third grand prix win of the season.
A difficult race for world champion Bagnaia saw him finish a distant third, 10.1s from Marquez, as his deficit in the standings to Martin grows to 20 points.
As Marquez went backwards off the line, poleman Martin nailed his launch and took the lead into Turn 1 on his Pramac Ducati ahead of VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi.
Bezzecchi would serve a long lap penalty on the fourth tour for his collision with Maverick Vinales in the sprint, which gave Bagnaia second.
Martin led Bagnaia by 0.8s at the start of lap five, with Marquez getting into the podium places soon after and beginning his charge towards the leaders.
The top three closed right up when Martin ran wide at Turn 1 on lap 12 having already seen his lead shrink, with Bagnaia taking advantage on the inside of Turn 3.
But Martin fought back into Turn 4 to retake the lead, opening the door for Marquez to come into second ahead of factory Ducati rider Bagnaia.
The top two quickly pulled away from Bagnaia, with Martin having to absorb massive pressure from Marquez across the second half of the race.
Martin made a mistake exiting Turn 4 on lap 24, allowing Marquez to move into the lead briefly at Turn 5 - though would be relegated to second again at Turn 1 moments later.
Marquez then launched a daring raid on Martin into Turn 4 with an aggressive move and made it stick to regain the lead.
This proved the pivotal moment of the grand prix, as Marquez wouldn’t be headed again.
Martin settled for second, while Bagnaia faded away third. VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth as Enea Bastianini struggled to fifth on the sister factory team Ducati.
Franco Morbidelli was sixth for Pramac ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder, Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Trackhouse Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez.
The final points went to Jack Miller (KTM), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda), Alex Rins (Yamaha), Luca Marini (Honda) and Alex Marquez - the Gresini rider forced to serve a long lap penalty for his collision with Joan Mir in Japan.
Honda rider Mir crashed out late on, while Bezzecchi fell on lap five but remounted to finish 19th. Trackhouse’s Lorenzo Savadori retired in the pits.
