Raul Fernandez dominated the Australian Grand Prix to score his maiden MotoGP victory, as pre-race favourite Marco Bezzecchi salvaged a podium finish after his penalty.
Trackhouse rider Fernandez emerged on top in an early battle with Pedro Acosta and then capitalised on Bezzecchi’s double long lap penalty to take the chequered flag with a 1.4s at Phillip Island.
VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio led Ducati’s charge in second, with Alex Marquez completing the podium spots on a Gresini GP24.
At the start of the race, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo made another poor launch from pole position, allowing Bezzecchi and Fernandez to establish a 1-2 for Aprilia, with Pedro Acosta also getting through to grab third.
As expected, Bezzecchi turned up the wick to pull out an early advantage, aware he had to serve a double long lap penalty for crashing into Ducati’s Marc Marquez at the Indonesian Grand Prix.
The Italian took the long loop for the first time on lap 5, slotting into third behind the battling Fernandez and Acosta. Serving the long lap penalty cost him more track positions, leaving him in sixth place and almost four seconds off the race lead.
With Bezzecchi virtually out of contention, Fernandez began eking out his advantage at the front, putting 1.5s between him and his nearest rival Acosta.
Acosta upped the pace on lap 12 to put Fernandez under pressure, but the Trackhouse rider quickly responded and extended his advantage to over two seconds.
Fernandez wouldn’t be threatened thereafter, scoring a maiden win for MotoGP’s newest team, as well as the second for Aprilia in 2025.
While the Spaniard’s victory was already certain by the halfway point, the other two spots on the podium wouldn’t be decided until late in the race.
Acosta, who had briefly run ahead of Fernandez early in the race, was forced to turn his attention to Alex Marquez, who had already shot up to third after starting the race from sixth on the grid.
Marquez followed Acosta through the start of lap 16 and then made a textbook pass on lap 16 to grab second place, as the 21-year-old began to struggle on his tyres.
But it was VR46 rider di Giannantonio who eventually claimed the runner-up spot, passing his Gresini rival on lap 23 to complete an impressive recovery 10th on the grid.
Third place was also decided late in the race, as Bezzecchi charged through the field in the final laps and snatched the final podium spot from Marquez on the penultimate lap.
This meant Marquez had to settle for fourth, while Acosta could also do no better than fifth after being Fernandez’s closest challenger for the first half of the race.
Factory Honda rider Luca Marini took the chequered flag just 0.040s behind Acosta in sixth, followed by the lead Yamaha of Alex Rins.
All four KTMs finished inside the top 10, as factory rider Brad Binder took eighth ahead of Tech3 duo Enea Bastianini and Pol Espargaro.
Polesitter Quartararo didn’t have the pace to hang on to the front and eventually crossed the line in 11th – just ahead of the Pramac Yamaha of Miguel Oliveira.
Home hero Jack Miller was running inside the top six early until he lost the front end of his M1 on lap 5.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia also failed to reach the finish, crashing at Siberia with just four laps to run.
Bagnaia’s non-score has elevated Aprilia’s Bezzecchi to third place in the standings.
MotoGP Australian GP – Race results:
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– The Autosport.com Team
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