Aprilia double in the sprint race at Phillip Island, with Marco Bezzecchi ahead of Raul Fernandez despite the close encounter with a seagull during the warm-up lap. Third in the sprint was Pedro Acosta (KTM). Seventh was Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), who started from pole. Francesco Bagnaia did very badly, 11th at the start and 19th at the finish line, with a delay of over 32 seconds on the first.
Absent the convalescent Marc Marquez – who underwent surgery on his right shoulder after the crash in Indonesia – it was his brother Alex who livened up the start, immediately burning Quartararo. But the Ducati-Gresini team rider didn’t resist for long, before Fernandez took the lead ahead of Bezzecchi, who then overtook him with four laps to go.
«Raul was impressive at the start, he was very fast and I struggled to catch him», admitted the winner, who completed the 13 laps with the remains of the unfortunate seagull stuck in the front of his RS-GP. «I started well and at the beginning I managed to defend myself. Then Raul and I left – commented Bezzecchi –. I didn’t want to stress the tires straight away because I knew that the last five laps on the soft would be difficult. Unfortunately, in an attempt to catch Raul, I made a small mistake in turn 10 and went wide. But I managed the tire well and when I started pushing I was fast. It was truly a beautiful sprint.”
An uneventful day for the Ducatis. The best was that of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati-VR46), fifth ahead of Alex Marquez. It is the first time since the introduction of the sprint in 2023 that no Ducati rider has finished on the podium. Bagnaia is increasingly in crisis and is third in the world championship standings, 92 points behind Alex Marquez. Bezzecchi remains fourth, but is now only eight points behind the Turin driver.
The start of tomorrow’s long race has been postponed by an hour due to expected windy weather conditions. Quartararo will start again ahead of Bezzecchi and the Australian Jack Miller (Yamaha-Pramac) – fourth today – while the first Ducati, that of Alex Marquez, will start sixth. Bezzecchi will have to serve a double long-lap penalty for causing the accident involving Marc Marquez in Indonesia. This handicap will considerably reduce his chances of winning. Bagnaia will actually start 14th, after receiving a three-place penalty for having obstructed Bezzecchi during qualifying.