Marc Marquez clinched his third race win of the season at the Australian Grand Prix after pulling off an “old-style” comeback following a rather bizarre start-line incident.
A visor tear-off that had gotten lodged under his rear wheel, leading to Marquez dropping to 13th into Turn 1 before recovering to sixth by the end of the lap.
The race featured an entertaining three-way battle between Marquez, Jorge Martin, and Pecco Bagnaia. The trio swapped positions repeatedly, with all three leading at various points of the race.
Marco Bezzecchi’s long-lap penalty had helped Bagnaia climb to second earlier, but, after battling Martin and Marquez, the Italian eventually couldn’t maintain his pace in the final laps and had to settle for 3rd.
Bezzecchi’s race ended with a crash after serving his penalty, while Joan Mir was the only other rider to crash out of the race. Lorenzo Savadori also recorded a DNF, retiring due to injury complications from Saturday’s sprint.
Further down the order, Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fourth, holding off a late charge from Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli who completed a Ducati Top 6 lockout.
Maverick Vinales, who started third, faded to finish eighth, with Fabio Quartararo and Raul Fernandez rounding out the Top 10. Notably absent was Pedro Acosta. He was declared unfit ahead of the race due to lingering shoulder pain from his sprint crash.
