The Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac) won the race. the first victory of his MotoGP career by winning the Australian GP on Saturday ahead of championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), while Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) lost everything on the last lap and finished fifth. Starting in fifth position, the Frenchman had a superb race and took control on the last lap while his teammate was in distress. He resisted the reigning world champion until the end. Present in the premier category of motorcycling since 2017, Zarco, double Moto2 world champion (2015, 2016) waited until the end of his seventh season and his 120th Grand Prix to finally secure his first success in MotoGP. “The feeling is incredible. I made a good start and I had to fight a lot. When I was behind Pecco (Bagnaia), I held on to stay in contact. We saw that Jorge Martin slowed down a lot and I tried to pass”, he explained directly. “After so many races, finally winning gives me so many emotions… I still have difficulty realizing “, added the Frenchman before taking the first step of the podium. Zarco's happiness, however, brought misfortune to Martin, who started from pole position and dominated the entire race before collapsing on the last lap and losing valuable points in the race for the world title. The Spaniard, who is now 27 lengths behind Bagnaia in the championship, lost the very daring bet he had attempted: the soft tire he had decided to put on the rear, on the contrary of almost all his opponents who had put on a medium tire, did not last the distance and he fell back five places on the last lap. The Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati-Gresini) took him also took his chance and finished third, thus landing the first podium of his career in MotoGP. The other Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), had a complicated race: starting in 16th position, he finally took an anonymous 14th place, a week after his podium in Indonesia (3rd). All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2023) Agence France-Presse
MotoGP: victory for Frenchman Johann Zarco in Australia ahead of Bagnaia, Martin 5th
ByTeilor Stone
Oct 21, 2023
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116