2024 Australian MotoGP, Phillip Island - Sprint Results updated after tyre pressure penalty
Sprint race results from the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island, round 17 (of 20) in the 2024 world championship.
Results updated after Fabio di Giannantonio received an 8-second penalty for low tyre pressure, dropping the VR46 rider from fifth to seventh.
The FIM Stewards have postponed a decision on the Bezzecchi/Vinales collision until Sunday, due to Bezzecchi's "current medical condition." No fractures were diagnosed at the medical centre, but the Italian has gone to Melbourne for further checks.
2024 Australian MotoGP, Phillip Island - Sprint Race Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff |
| 1 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | 19m 13.301s |
| 2 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +1.520s |
| 3 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +4.368s |
| 4 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +6.879s |
| 5 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +9.623s |
| 6 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | +15.249s |
| 7 | Fabio di Giannantonio | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +15.905s |
| 8 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +19.280s |
| 9 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | +21.126s |
| 10 | Luca Marini | ITA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +21.194s |
| 11 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +21.379s |
| 12 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +21.483s |
| 13 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +23.528s |
| 14 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +34.055s |
| 15 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +38.324s |
| Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | DNF | |
| Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | DNF | |
| Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | DNF | |
| Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)* | DNF | |
| Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | DNF | |
| Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | DNF | |
| Johann Zarco | FRA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | DNF | |
* Rookie
Jorge Martin wins the 2024 Australian MotoGP Sprint race to increase his title advantage over Francesco Bagnaia, who faded from a high of second to fourth.
Starting from a dominant pole position, Martin led from start to finish for his first Phillip Island victory.
Meanwhile, Bagnaia made swift early progress from fifth on the grid.
But once into second, the Italian could do nothing about Martin and instead fell victim to Marc Marquez - who fought back from eighth at Turn 1 - and factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini.
The closing stages saw a shocking incident for Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Vinales.
The VR46 rider slammed into the back of the Aprilia at 140mph after being sucked into the RS-GP’s slipstream into Turn 1.
Bezzecchi's rear wheel was in the air as he tried to avoid the impact before losing the front and torpedoing the Spaniard.
A furious Vinales walked away but Bezzecchi initially required a stretcher before getting a lift to the medical centre on the back of a motorbike.
The incident is under investigation by the FIM Stewards.
Bezzecchi's VR46 team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio is under investigation for low tyre pressure.
Most riders used the soft rear tyre for the 13-lap race, with only second-row starter Bezzecchi, plus Johann Zarco and Lorenzo Savadori trying the stiffer construction medium.
Alex Rins and Joan Mir were the only riders not to use the hard front tyre, opting for the medium in the chilly temperatures.
Today’s race was the first-ever Sprint at Phillip Island after last year’s grand prix was moved forward to Saturday due to storm warnings. The 2023 Sprint was eventually cancelled due to extreme weather on Sunday.
Takaaki Nakagami has a three-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s grand prix, when Alex Marquez must serve a long lap penalty from Motegi.
Due to the absence of any MotoGP data for the new Phillip Island surface, Michelin is offering a third rear tyre option this weekend.
“For the front we will have the same compounds (soft, medium and hard) as in 2023, but for the rear, we are offering three options instead of the usual two,” said Michelin’s Piero Taramasso.
“We will have the soft compound, with its usual internal structure, but also two tyres with medium and hard compounds, which benefit from a reinforced construction that we already saw at the end of September in Mandalika.”
The soft rear is the medium compound from last year's event, picked by most riders for the (Saturday) grand prix.
Miguel Oliveira continues to be sidelined by fractures to his right wrist in Mandalika and is replaced at Trackhouse by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori.
Ducati Lenovo, currently 167-points ahead of Pramac, can clinch their fourth MotoGP teams’ title if they leave Australia at least 198 points ahead.
Revised tyre pressure rules for 2024 mean riders must stay above a lower front minimum of 1.8 bar (instead of 1.88) for 60% (instead of 50%) of a Grand Prix distance, or 30% of a Sprint.
The punishment for failing to meet the minimum in a Grand Prix is a 16-second post-race time penalty, or an 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.
