Saturday, October 19, 2024, 07:51
A great Saturday was signed by Jorge Martín in the antipodes, where the weather once again played a prominent role, especially in the first part of the day. Phillip Island woke up with rain and strong wind and the first morning practice had to be done while still wet. As the activity progressed, the track dried out and qualifying was already held with slick tires, although still with patches of water and the asphalt was very delicate, with very low temperatures. In these difficult conditions, the one who performed best was the championship leader, who took pole position ahead of Marc Márquez and Maverick Viñales, in an entirely Spanish front row, and with Bagnaia starting in fifth position.
The sprint race was held more than three hours later, with the asphalt already completely dry, but with strong gusts of wind that were also going to play a part in the game. Martín made an impeccable start and Márquez stuck to his wheel, but the man from Cervera went long under braking in Turn 1 and lost many positions. «I did not calculate the braking well and to avoid contact I went wide. My mistake for not calculating in that first corner, which is very special and even more so when there is wind. That failure, together with the second-row Ducatis burning Viñales during acceleration, completely reset the sprint, with Martín, Bezzecchi and Bagnaia in the lead, and Márquez falling back to eighth position and forced to come back once again.
And it didn’t take long for the Catalan to put on his overalls and regain positions at a forced pace. By the fourth lap he was already third and had the two title contenders ahead of him. It took him three laps to pass Bagnaia, who was very fighting despite not having the pace, and when he finally took second on the eighth lap, the difference was already more than three seconds with Martín. And victory seemed impossible. “In the end I was able to solve it, with second position, but I have a bitter aftertaste because I had the pace to fight with Martín.” But the one from Cervera promised a battle for Sunday. «Jorge is very explosive in the first laps and I feel better with used tires. If this time we go well I will try to be as close as possible to Jorge, who is the fastest driver this weekend.
Authoritarian victory
Martín did not flinch when Bagnaia took second in the first laps, nor did he do so when Márquez was his closest pursuer with six to go. “I pushed a little when I saw Marc take second, but in the end I just had to manage the advantage.” To the pole position and the sprint victory, he also added the fastest race lap, which he set just when Márquez was taking second, which made it clear that he still had a margin when he was running in the lead.
In the key championship, Martín expanded the advantage over his main rival by 6 points. He benefited from Márquez’s comeback and also from the third position that Enea Bastianini took from her teammate. Pecco Bagnaia could only finish fourth and is now 16 points off the lead.
The scare of the day was carried out by Maverick Viñales and Marco Bezzecchi when both were fighting for fifth position. The Spaniard came from behind with more pace and had overtaken the Italian in the first corner, but he could not stop his Ducati under braking and ended up running over the Aprilia rider. Both went to the ground at a high speed and Bezzecchi took the worst part, who had to be taken out of the gravel on a stretcher and was evacuated by helicopter for further tests, although he climbed onto the device on his own. Aside from the physical consequences, the Italian will probably be sanctioned since the Race Direction warned that the accident was under investigation.
There were many falls in a survival sprint, including another very ugly one by Pedro Acosta that took him directly to the medical center, with a severe bruise on his left shoulder, but nothing broken. The first nine points positions closed: Di Giannantonio, Morbidelli, Raúl Fernández, Aleix Espargaró and Augusto Fernández, who added his first points to the 2024 sprint.
Qualifications in the small categories were also held this Saturday at Phillip Island. In Moto2, Fermín Aldeguer will lead an all-Spanish front row with Arón Canet second and Alonso López third. Leader Ogura will start ninth in his first opportunity to close the intermediate class title. And in Moto3, the pole went to Iván Ortolá, who is competing with the Dutchman Veijer (second on the grid) and with Dani Holgado (14th) for the runner-up position in a world championship that already has a champion in the figure of the Colombian Hispanic David Alonso, who He will start tenth at Phillip Island.
