It is perhaps a decisive turning point in the MotoGP World Championship which was played out this Sunday in Australia. On the Phillip Island circuit, Fabio Quartararo had to retire after a fall on the 11th lap and he left the field almost free to Francesco Bagnaia. The Italian finished third in a race of crazy intensity and his 16 points give him the lead in the general classification, 14 lengths ahead of the Frenchman, now second.
Quartararo had however made a decent start, but he experienced a loss of grip from the 4th loop. On the edge of turn 4, his bike started shaking and he sped straight through the grass, dropping down to 22nd position. The Frenchman began a painful comeback, but it did not take him very far: on the 11th lap, he went to the mat alone in turn 2.
A wonderful race
The race was played without him and it was magnificent. Francesco Bagnaia led for a long time but the six drivers in the lead fought hard. The positions changed constantly with Alex Rins, Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi. The Italian from Ducati seemed to be flying for victory at the start of the last lap but Rins had a hell of a pace and the Spaniard from Suzuki snuck in perfectly to take the lead.
Marc Marquez followed him and Bagnaia could not do better than third in a Grand Prix which ended in the second tightest Top 10 in history (5’9 gap between Rins and Brad Binder ). The Italian from Ducati still appreciated this result, which puts him at the top of the Championship for the first time: “When I saw that Fabio was out, I said to myself that a victory was good, but that if they overtook me on the last lap, that was good too, Bagnaia testified. We must continue like this. » The other Frenchman, Johann Zarco, finished 8th after having completely missed his start.
Quartararo could have lost even more, but this day can only confirm the Yamaha rider’s loss of bearings over the second half of the season. And next Sunday, in Malaysia, Bagnaia will already have a first chance to succeed him on the MotoGP list.