Raúl Fernández claims maiden MotoGP win in Australia

Silvia Cojocaru
9 minutes ago
3 min read

Written by Silvia Cojocaru

With the reigning world champion out of contention for this weekend, the first place at the Australian Grand Prix was up for anyone to claim and Raúl Fernández stepped in for the task.

The Spaniard won his first premier class race, while Marco Bezzecchi settled in third place in the rider standings.

Grand Prix Results

Raúl Fernández, Trackhouse MotoGP Team, 39:49.57
Fabio DiGiannantonio, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, +1.418
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, +2.410
Álex Márquez, Gresini Racing MotoGP, +3.715
Pedro Acosta, KTM Factory Racing, +7.930
Luca Marini, Honda HRC Castrol, +7.970
Àlex Rins, Yamaha MotoGP Team, +10.671
Brad Binder, KTM Factory Racing, +12.270
Enea Bastianini, KTM Tech 3, +14.076
Pol Espargaró, KTM Tech 3, +16.861
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha MotoGP Team, +16.965
Miguel Oliveira, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, +17.677
Ai Ogura, Trackhouse MotoGP Team, +17.928
Fermín Aldeguer, Gresini Racing MotoGP, +18.413
Franco Morbidelli, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, +27.881
Lorenzo Savadori, Aprilia Racing, +34.169
Somkiat Chantra, Idemistsu Honda LCR, +50.043
Michele Pirro, Ducati Team, +50.303

OUT. Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

OUT. Joan Mir, Honda HRC Castrol

OUT. Jack Miller, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP

OUT. Johann Zarco, Honda LCR Team

Sprint

After a failed start from pole, Fabio Quartararo was immediately sent to sixth on the grid. Behind him, Bezzecchi, starting second, faced issues before the race even started, having hit a seagull at the start of the warm-up lap. The collision caused the Italian rider to go the entire race with an extra wing sticking out of his bike.

A rider who was luckier right off the line was Fernández, who was especially quick in the opening laps and took the lead after the first turn. Bezzecchi followed him, managing to recover to second.

The Italian managed to close in on the leader, but he made a mistake while attempting to avoid a collision with Fernández. The Italian was again one second behind, only managing to close in again one lap later, making the final move on the start-finish line.

Behind the leading two, a three-way fight was shaping up between Jack Miller, Álex Márquez and Pedro Acosta, which was later won by “El Tiburón” with a beautifully executed double overtake.

Fabio DiGiannantonio made a surprise comeback towards the end of the race, overtaking Quartararo and later Márquez. Having shown incredible pace at the end of the race, DiGianannantonio could have even entertained the possibility of challenging Acosta for the podium.

Bezzecchi won the Sprint by three seconds, marking Aprilia’s first 1-2 finish on a Saturday, as well as Ducati’s first without a podium.

Grand Prix

Quartararo failed to take advantage of his starting position once again, losing the lead to Bezzecchi in the opening turn. Fernández and Acosta followed, sending the pole sitter down to fourth.

The KTM and Trackhouse riders fought for second place while Bezzecchi aimed to distance himself in order to serve his double long lap penalty, doing so on Lap 5 and Lap 7.

After serving both his penalties, Bezzecchi found himself in sixth, behind DiGiannantonio.

Miller attempted to overtake Márquez on Lap 5, but unfortunately the home hero crashed at the end of the same lap, ending his race early.

Quartararo continued to lose positions, being overtaken by both Márquez and DiGiannantonio on Lap 8 and by Bezzecchi on Lap 11. The Frenchman would only finish the race in 11th place.

As Fernández started to settle comfortably into the lead, Acosta lost contact with the leader and started to struggle. On Lap 16 he was overtaken by Márquez losing the chances of winning his first race in the premier class.

After starting 15th on the grid due to a three-place grid penalty, Frencesco Bagnaia struggled to recover positions throughout the race. Just as he managed to overtake Quartararo for 12th, the Italian crashed with only four laps remaining.

Although he was denied a win on Saturday, Fernández became a MotoGP race winner today, sharing his maiden win with the Trackhouse team and marking Aprilia's first 1-2 finish in a Grand Prix since the 2023 Catalan Grand Prix.

Remember to tune in to the spectacular Malaysian Grand Prix, taking place next week at 08:00 BST!