Prima Pramac won the MotoGP Australian GP with Johann Zarco and moved closer to clinching the team title, extending their lead in the championship.

With the French rider’s win and Jorge Martín’s fifth-place finish, Pramac scored 36 points at Phillip Island, bringing their total to 526. The team has now a gap of 85 points to Mooney VR46 Racing Team. However, anything can still happen since a maximum of 264 points can be awarded until the end of the season.

Ducati remains in third place as the top factory team, trailing the VR46 by 23 points and the leader by 108 points. The Red Bull KTM is in third place, with Aprilia in fourth, 50 and 63 points behind Ducati, respectively. GasGas Tech3 and Repsol Honda have not yet reached the 100-point mark, sitting in tenth and eleventh places.

Regarding the constructors’ championship, there are no major changes. Ducati, already crowned champions, now has a total of 552 points, compared to KTM’s 296. The Austrians have slightly widened their lead over Aprilia, which remains less than the value of a win in a main race. Yamaha has pulled away from Honda in the battle for fourth place, holding a four-point advantage.

Constructor and team championships:

O conteúdo Prima Pramac closes in on the team title once again aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

In the MotoGP race in India last September, Francesco Bagnaia made a mistake and suffered a crash when he was in second place ahead of Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati). This allowed the Spanish rider to significantly close the gap to the championship lead held by the Ducati man. His crew chief, Cristian Gabarrini, believes it was a crucial incident.

The engineer told La Gazzetta dello Sport that if Bagnaia hadn’t crashed in India, the current situation would be much more encouraging for the reigning champion and not as much for Martín: ‘The crash in India weighed heavily on us; Pecco had caught him, overtaken him, and left him behind, and the other had exploded. Without the crash, we would be talking about something else; there would still be a significant advantage, and Martín would have a lower crest. This is the reality’.

Gabarrini clarified that he likes Martín’s attitude: ‘I like Martín, the way he is, always combative, aggressive, and positive. But it’s natural for him to push things in his favor and try to put pressure on Pecco’.

O conteúdo ‘Without Francesco Bagnaia’s crash in India, Jorge Martín would have a lower crest’ – Cristian Gabarrini aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

When everything seemed to indicate that Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) could win the MotoGP Australian GP, it was his teammate Johann Zarco who secured the victory. In the battle, there was also Francesco Bagnaia, competing with a medium rear tire instead of the soft one that the Spanish rider unsuccessfully risked. Even so, he achieved the best result among those who made that choice.

In the Italian’s view, Martín was the only rider who stuck with the soft tire since the practice sessions, but he emphasized that race performance is different: ‘I think he was the only one with the possibility to race with the soft because yesterday he did many laps and he was quite fast. I think the maximum amount were 19 with stop and start. During all the race it’s always a different story and when I saw that the gap he took at the start wasn’t good enough to remain with a bit of margin in the last laps I was considering it’.

Focused on proper tire management, Bagnaia believes he adopted the right strategy and attributed merit to Zarco’s victory: ‘In a moment, during the race, I was just trying to be very careful with the rear tyre because I knew that was the correct choice and I knew that as I soon as Brad [Binder] and Fabio [Di Giannantonio] started to fight we would catch them easier, without pushing. So I think this was the correct choice, the correct strategy, and I just missed a bit to be close to Johann [Zarco] in the last lap. But he was in a better situation with the traction, he was working very well with the rear tyre, so he was deserving the victory more than me’.

O conteúdo ‘Jorge Martín was the only one with the possibility to race with the soft tyre’ – Francesco Bagnaia aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After more than six years of trying, Johann Zarco finally secured his first MotoGP victory on Saturday by winning the main race at the Australian GP in Phillip Island. Naturally, it was a significant moment for the Prima Pramac Racing rider.

During a press conference, the French rider was asked to describe his emotions immediately after crossing the finish line. In his answer, he explained that he was calm at that moment but later became particularly emotional due to the reactions of several of his competitors:

– Some journalists asked me if it was an explosion in the helmet, if I screamed or not. No; I felt almost everything so calm on that moment. It was like: «This is it, it’s done and it’s so good». And then the emotion came up a bit. I was also very happy to get the congratulations not from all the riders, but many riders opened the helmet, I could see their eyes and there were happy for me. This brought me a very nice emotion.

O conteúdo Johann Zarco highlights the congratulations from other riders: ‘This brought me a very nice emotion’. aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Jorge Martín had a dominant performance leading for much of the Australian MotoGP. However, on the final lap, he couldn’t withstand the approach of his competitors.

The Prima Pramac Spanish rider was in first place, but within that last lap, he dropped to fifth place, losing four positions, including to his title rival, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).

In the following video, you can see the moments that led Martín to descend from first to fifth.

O conteúdo Video: “Cold Shower” for Jorge Martín, from the lead to fifth place on the final lap aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Jorge Martin led from the first to the last lap, but it was exactly there, on the last lap, that the 2nd place in the championship gave up the lead of the race to his teammate Johann Zarco.

Being the only one in the front group on the soft rear tyre, it was clear that Jorge Martin was struggling to manage the compound chosen for the rear wheel. In a debrief, Jorge Martin was resigned to the result of the race, assuming that it was 100% his choice to put a different compound from the others at the rear:

– Yes, so close. Of course, now it’s very easy to understand which would be the best choice, but it was my choice 100% to go with the soft tyre (at the rear) I tried it and it didn’t work, but I’m happy with my performance. I think I rode very smooth, very good. I tried to be quite gentle with the tyres, but in the end it didn’t work. It’s a learning experience for the future. (…) I think with seven laps to go was the moment I saw I was in trouble, because they were catching me about 4 tenths a lap, but I was pushing hard, but I couldn’t accelerate properly. I was able to brake and have some cornering speed, but I couldn’t have power and rear grip. I just tried to finish as best I could and that was 5th position.

The #89 also stated that he lost hope of defending the lead, right at turn 2 on the last lap, when he realized that his opponents were already extremely close, also stating that he was happy with Zarco’s victory, and that the championship remains open:

– They recovered 0.4s on the penultimate lap, so I had half a second, so I thought maybe I would make it, but as soon as I came out of Turn 2, I saw that they were very close. I tried to close at Turn 4, but Zarco was focused and ready for the win, and I want to congratulate him. And then I tried not to crash and to finish in 5th position was the most I could do. (…) Certainly he deserved the win and I’m very happy for the team and for him. Now I think we’re very close in the team championship, I think. So it’s a good point, but I wanted another one. It’s still up to me, so I have to be smart and not make these mistakes.

O conteúdo ‘With seven laps to go was the moment I saw I was in trouble’ – Jorge Martin aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After seven years, six of them in MotoGP, Johann Zarco achieved his long-awaited first victory in the premier class. To accomplish this, he had to prevail in a battle with several riders in the final laps of the Phillip Island race.

The rider said in a press conference: ‘It’s a quite good feeling. Because you always push and try to catch it, but sometimes you say: «There are some other riders who got the pace, who got this feeling». As long as you don’t catch it, it seems you cannot win. As Pecco [Bagnaia] did now. More than three years ago he has been flying in a Ducati and is winning so many races. Now this is Jorge’s [Martín] time, also in qualifying is doing amazing things and he can control well the race’.

In Zarco’s view, the rear tyre choice was one of the keys to the outcome: ‘The choice of the medium rear tyre was important, and when I saw Jorge going away I’ve been thinking that at least to fight for the podium would be nice. Fight for the second place will not be easy, but it’s possible. And in the last five laps, when Jorge began to drop a lot, I thought something even more special is possible today. So I’m happy I could do it’.

Regarding his feelings, the Frenchman commented: ‘Specially the emotion; maybe we have to do the long race on Saturday for me, because it seems I am a bit fresher than on a Sunday. But at least this is done, let’s see for the future. I will sleep well tonight, because here in Phillip Island, on dry conditions, winning is giving a really nice feeling because everyone loves the track and you feel that you are part of the big guys who won here, and this is a very nice feeling’.

O conteúdo ‘As long as you don’t catch the victory, it seems you cannot win’ – Johann Zarco aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Seven years later, Johann Zarco returned to the victories, winning for the first time in MotoGP. At the Australian GP, the Pramac rider had to wait until the last lap to make the decisive overtake.

In the flash interview with the official broadcast, the Frenchman didn’t hide his disbelief in this result, in addition to summarizing his approach to the race:

– It’s making a good feeling. It’s hard to believe, but at least this race has been pretty good. I had a good start and I had to fight at the beginning. Then I’ve been quite fast and behind Pecco [Bagnaia] I was seeing he wouldn’t lose the gap with the guys in front. [Jorge] Martín totally went away. So I was trying to save the rear tyre as well as possible, because I know that normally in the last few laps I can do well with this rear tyre. And I was seeing the tyre was moving, but I could have something more. And then I tried to attack when we were in this group and it was almost a surprise to see Martín totally dropping down. So I said «something is possible». And I tried to overtake as well as possible and I was quite OK.

Zarco also said: ‘At the end I really tried to pick up the bike to have the best drive as possible and crossing the line in first after so many races trying to do it it’s really a high emotion. I need to swallow it, to take it well and enjoy tonight – because I don’t want to cry at the moment, but I think it will come soon!’.

O conteúdo ‘Crossing the line in first after so many races trying it’s a high emotion’ – Johann Zarco aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Days after the crash that forced him out of the MotoGP Indonesian GP race, Jorge Martín convincingly led the first free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix. He was more than seven seconds ahead of the second-placed rider this morning at Phillip Island.

Aprilia made a strong start at Phillip Island, with Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaró leading after the initial flying laps. As usual in the first minutes, the leaderboard saw several changes, with Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) becoming the new leader, closely chased by Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac/Ducati), who then solidified his second position, even though his teammate Martín moved to the top.

The order in the top two prevailed, while Viñales took third. The riders continued to adapt to the circuit and conditions, in addition to working on the set-up of their bikes. With 33 minutes remaining, Marc Márquez had a crash at turn ten, with no major consequences.

Shortly after, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) moved into second place splitting the Pramac riders. The leaderboard remained relatively unchanged at the front until Viñales reached second place with 21 minutes to go.

More changes occurred with about 15 minutes left when the surprising Augusto Fernández (GasGas Tech3/KTM) claimed third place.

It was in the final three minutes that the leader changed when Viñales overtook Martín. Martín was also beaten by Fernández but finished the session with two fast laps to return to the lead for good.

At the end, Fernández returned to second place, trailing Martín by 0.720s. Viñales was third, followed by Binder and Zarco. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), the championship leader, finished in 11th place.

Timesheet:

O conteúdo Jorge Martín warned his rivals leading FP1 in Australia by 0.7s aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) are the main contenders for the MotoGP title with five rounds remaining in the season. They are quite familiar with each other, and in a press conference before the Australian GP, they were asked to discuss each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Francesco Bagnaia on Jorge Martín: ‘He is good on the traction, acceleration. The weak point is not a weak point because without this riding style he can’t exit as fast as he is doing – is the braking’.

Jorge Martín on Francesco Bagnaia: ‘For Pecco is the opposite. He is super good on braking and maybe he is losing on traction’.

O conteúdo Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín talk about each other’s strengths and weaknesses aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.