Phillip Island is a track that has always favored group races, but the 2022 Australian Grand Prix was truly heart-pounding, as well as risking having written another fundamental page in the race for the MotoGP title.
And it is a race that could also remain in history, because Alex Rins managed to bring Suzuki back to victory, just a couple of GPs from the departure of the Hamamatsu manufacturer to the premier class. The fourth seal of the Spaniard’s career came at the end of a sensational comeback from tenth place on the grid: Rins was very good at exploiting the driveability of the GSX-RR and on the last lap he found the spark for a success that will only increase the regret for the goodbye of the brand of the great S.
But we are also talking about Marc Marquez’s return to the podium, second despite the risk of the soft tire at the rear. It was since the victory at Misano last year that the eight-time world champion was unable to get on the podium and today he fought with a knife between his teeth throughout the race, proving once again that the fourth operation on his right arm may have been that of the turning point, but also that Honda has a whole other potential with him in the saddle.
To complete the podium there is a Pecco Bagnaia who gives an important breakthrough in the World Championship, but who perhaps partly wasted the opportunity to put a serious risk on the title. Fabio Quartararo first made a mistake at turn 4, finishing in 21st position. Then, in an attempt to catch up, he slipped at turn 2, thus finding himself having to deal with the second consecutive zero, which opened the door wide for the Ducati driver to overtake.
After a bad start, Pecco did not lose heart and climbed up to command the race with 13 laps to go. From that moment on he never gave up the leadership until the start of the last lap. In the final battle, prudence probably prevailed, so a potential +23 on Quartararo became a +14 which, however, is an important loot two races from the end, especially if you look at the current trend of the rival. This means, therefore, that his first world championship match point will be played in 7 days in Malaysia.
On the other hand, it gets tougher for all the other title contenders: Aleix Espargaro remained hooked to the train for almost the entire race, but the Aprilia driver suffered a small drop in performance in the final, which relegated him to ninth place, with a gap of 27 lengths against Bagnaia.
There remains a small chance for Enea Bastianini, for whom Aleix’s opposite is true. The Gresini Racing rider had a bad start and was in the back, but in the second part of the race he literally changed gear, managing to climb up to fifth place, which earned him -42 in the World Championship.
Jack Miller’s world championship dream died out in the home race and the Ducati rider is totally blameless for what happened. In fact, the Australian was hit at turn 4 by Alex Marquez, who arrived very long in braking and could not do anything to avoid it. Given the hardness of the impact, “Thriller” was also lucky to get up without consequences.
On the other hand, Marco Bezzecchi’s race was very good, battling for the podium positions, eventually taking home a fourth place that also earned him the title of “Rookie of the Year”. However, his teammate Luca Marini also performed well, sixth with the second Ducati of the Mooney VR46. After leading the race in the early stages, poleman Jorge Martin, who had to be content with finishing in seventh position, in front of Johann Zarco’s twin Ducati Pramac, instead gradually lost positions.
Rounding out the top 10 is Brad Binder’s KTM. Thanks to Quartararo’s retirement, we must instead go down to 13th place to find the first of the Yamahas with Cal Crutchlow. Maverick Vinales’ race was very disappointing, only 17th with the other Aprilia, but it went worse for Franco Morbidelli, who finished wheels in the air at turn 4 with his Yamaha. Fabio Di Giannantonio reached the finish line, but only in 20th position.
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