MotoGP Round 19 Australian Grand Prix: Ai Ogura’s teammate, Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez, takes his first win

Ai Ogura returns. Marc Marquez is out due to injury.

Ai Ogura (Aprilia) returned to the Australian Grand Prix after missing the previous race, the Indonesian Grand Prix. Ogura had injured her right hand in a fall in the final race of the San Marino Grand Prix, and had missed the final race of the Japanese Grand Prix and the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Also absent from this year’s race will be Marc Marquez (Ducati), Jorge Martin (Aprilia), and Maverick Viñales (KTM). Marc Marquez has already been announced to miss the Malaysian Grand Prix due to a crash in the final race of the Indonesian Grand Prix, injuring his right shoulder blade. Martin broke his right collarbone in a crash during the sprint race at the Japanese Grand Prix and remains absent. Viñales will focus on recovery and rehabilitation from a dislocated left shoulder sustained in the German Grand Prix. Michele Pirro will stand in for Marc Marquez, Lorenzo Savadori for Martin, and Pol Espargaro for Viñales.

In the second qualifying session (Q2) held on Saturday, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) took pole position for the fifth time this season. Second place went to Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), and third place to local Australian Jack Miller (Yamaha). Ogura started from 18th place.

In the sprint race held on Saturday afternoon, Bezzecchi won. Second place went to Ogura’s teammate, Raul Fernandez (Aprilia), who is also on the Aprilia satellite team. Third place went to Pedro Acosta (KTM). This is the first time that a Ducati has not finished in the top three in the sprint race, which began in 2023.

Ogura finished in 16th place, but was penalized 8 seconds for a tire pressure violation, resulting in a final result of 17th place.

Fernandez’s victory marks Aprilia’s 300th victory

Sunday’s race was rescheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. local time, an hour later than originally scheduled, due to weather concerns on Saturday.

It was Bezzecchi who got off to a good start and took the lead early on, but he had been given a double long lap penalty for the race after causing Marc Marquez to crash in the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Bezzecchi served his first long lap penalty on lap 5 and his second on lap 7. He set a high pace from the start and built up a lead of more than one second over second place, but he was still unable to avoid dropping back down the order, and after serving his penalty he dropped to sixth place.

Taking over from Bezzecchi was fellow Aprilia rider and satellite team rider Fernandez, who was trailing Acosta, a talented rider in his second year in the premier class. However, Fernandez maintained his lead and widened the gap between him and Acosta.

Meanwhile, Fabio Di Gianantonio (Ducati) was catching up from behind. Having started from 10th place, Di Gianantonio moved up to 4th by lap 8, 3rd by lap 19, and 2nd by lap 23, thanks to a crash by the rider in front of him.

Bezzecchi also fought his way back from sixth place to move up to third, behind Di Gianantonio, with two laps remaining.

However, neither of them could catch up with Fernandez, who was running at the top of the leaderboard. Fernandez maintained his lead and took the win. This was Fernandez’s first win in the MotoGP class in his fourth season since moving up to the premier class in 2022.

This victory also marked Aprilia’s 300th victory in the Road Racing World Championship.

Di Gianantonio came second, and Bezzecchi, who had fought his way back from a double long-lap penalty, took third, completing the podium for both Aprilia riders. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) crashed out of the race, and Bezzecchi has risen to third in the championship standings.

Alex Marquez (Ducati) came in fourth, Acosta in fifth, and Luca Marini (Honda) in sixth, the highest ranking for a Japanese manufacturer.

Ogura, who was returning from injury, finished in 13th place.

The 20th round, the Malaysian Grand Prix, will be a back-to-back race and will be held at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia from October 24th to 26th.