Spain’s Marc Marquez has recovered from a nightmare start in which a mosquito infiltrated his visor to sensationally claim his fifth Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix victory.
Having fallen back to 13th after wheel-spinning off the start line, six-time world MotoGP champion Marquez produced a flawless ride and finally overtook countryman Jorge Martin with four laps to go at Phillip Island on Sunday.
Martin fought back in a tense sprint to the finish line but the experienced Marquez held him off to close the gap on leader Martin and Italian Francesco Bagnaia at the top of the world championship standings
After Marquez’s horror start, he quickly hauled down the pack in the first few laps, setting a MotoGP lap record at Phillip Island of 1.27.900. Australian favourite Jack Miller improved from 15th on the grid to finish in 11th.
Luck was not in the Queenslander’s favour over the weekend, suffering his worst qualifying result at the Melbourne racetrack after hitting a rabbit, before a seagull strike hampered his bike in Saturday’s sprint.
Maverick Vinales made a miraculous recovery to finish in eighth after a horror high-speed crash with Marco Bezzechi in Saturday’s sprint race.
Bezzechi was handed a long lap penalty by stewards for running into the back of Vinales and fell further back when crashing out on lap five, this time without taking any rivals out with him.
Spaniard Pedro Acosta did not start after injuring his shoulder in a scary highside during Saturday’s sprint.
AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1. Marc Marquez (Ducati)
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2. Jorge Martin (Ducati)
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati)
5. Enea Bastianini (Ducati)
