Marquez wins Australian MotoGP after intense battle with Martin

PHILLIP ISLAND (Agencies): Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez put on a master class to win the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix ahead of world championship leader Jorge Martin at Phillip Island on Sunday. Polesitter and sprint winner Martin of Prima Pramac Racing rocketed off the line while fellow Spaniard Marquez endured yet another disastrous launch, falling rapidly down the order before ruthlessly finding his way back to seal his third win of the season. Marquez qualified second on the grid, but dropped outside the top-10 at the start when his own tear-off got stuck under his rear tyre. He had also recovered from a poor start to come second in the sprint on Saturday. The 31-year-old, third in the championship standings, has now won the Australian MotoGP four times in the premier class. “It was always something happening, but I’ve never pulled the tear-off in the start before,” Marquez said. “This time when I was putting the front device on, I saw something was super big here and I didn’t have a chance so I took it off … and when I released the clutch I began to spin. “I don’t know where I was in the first corner but I overtook many riders and I thought that one time was impossible to catch Martin. Then in lap five or six I started to get the rhythm and it was more calm, it was a bit stressful but I’m super happy…

“It’s true that Martin pushed through all the race and I was saving the tyre to have the last lap.” While Martin led most of the 27-lap race, he and Marquez swapped places in the final moments before Marquez came out on top. Martin’s second-place finish extended his lead over twice MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia at the top of the world championship by 20 points. Having qualified fifth, Bagnaia came third to complete an all-Ducati podium. With three races left in the campaign, Bagnaia, who struggled to match Marquez and Martin’s pace all weekend, will set his sights on next week’s Thailand Grand Prix. “It was a difficult race for sure,” Martin said. “I had a strong pace but the feeling wasn’t the same as yesterday, the wind was really strong so I started to lose the front…” Italian duo Fabio Di Giannantonio and Enea Bastianini were the other two riders in the top-five in Australia. Red Bull GasGas Tech3’s 20-year-old rookie Pedro Acosta missed the race after suffering a crash in the sprint.