Ducati Lenovo
The Ducati Lenovo Team claimed victory in the Australian Sprint at Phillip Island with Marc Márquez, who is back in the lead of the Riders’ standings with a ten-point advantage over his closest rival. Francesco Bagnaia was forced to retire at the end of lap three.
Starting from pole position, Márquez retained the lead at the start and held his position despite the numerous attacks from Martín. Following the latter’s crash, Marc successfully defended first place against his brother Alex, who was closing in. Bagnaia, sixteenth on the grid, gained two positions in the early stages but ultimately returned to the pits at the end of lap three.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9:40 local time (GMT+11) for warm-up, followed by the 27-lap Grand Prix of Australia, which is scheduled to start at 14:00.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“Today we weren’t the fastest out there, so I tried to defend my position as hard as I could against Martín and attack to retake the lead. The pace was really fast, and it was clear that he had a rhythm I couldn’t match. Once I was informed of his crash, I managed the race while trying to prevent the chasing riders from closing in, starting with Alex, who was coming back strongly. I’m happy with the win, but I feel sorry for Jorge. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on track soon.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF
“It certainly wasn’t the best day for us, starting with qualifying, where we didn’t make the best choice in terms of strategy and rear tyre. I had a good start in the Sprint, but then I began experiencing a small issue that got worse corner after corner, preventing me from continuing the race. It’s a pity, but we have to focus on tomorrow’s race, which is going to be a long one. The realistic goal is to finish in the top ten.”
KTM Factory Racing
MotoGP left the tropical heat of Indonesia for the turbulent climate of southern Australia and the majestic confines of Phillip Island for round 18. The flowing and revered circuit 140km from Melbourne– which first hosted the world championship in 1989 – was warm and sunny on Friday for the first practice sessions (and from which Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini went directly through to Q2 for Saturday morning) but then the weather quickly shifted to rain for day two.
Grand Prix racers adore the Phillip Island course for the pace and the high-speed corners that requires precision, bravery and optimum set-up. The Red Bull KTM teams focused on this area while also battling the changes in the skies and temperatures around the Island. Showers overnight and through the day provided mixed conditions until a dry Sprint by 15.00.
After Saturday’s Q1 and Q2; Acosta, Bastianini, Binder and Viñales had secured P7, P11, P13 and P15 respectively on the grid as the clouds gathered. The Sprint was declared dry but the threat of more drizzle and downpours hovered. Pedro started brightly and hit the top five on the first lap but Brad’s launch was even more effective and he reached 7th by the end of the first circulation. Acosta notched the fastest lap in opening exchanges and was in podium contention until the lead pack started to disperse. He sealed 5th while Brad made sure of 4 points for the top six. Enea was held up through the first two laps and toiled to cross the line in 11th while Maverick felt discomfort from his left shoulder in some of the quicker sections of Phillip Island and had to enter the pitlane.
The Australian Grand Prix will begin at 14.00 local time (04.00 CET) on Sunday and with more rain forecast.
Pedro Acosta, 7th in qualification, 5th in the Sprint: “Not much more I could do today. Good start and good first laps and that was pretty much the only card I had in my pocket. I tried to burn the tire a bit to go with the guys but their pace was better. Then there was nothing to gain in front of me and nothing to lose behind. We are shaking quite a lot in sector three. We brought the bike home and we know it was working quite well in the wet so let’s see for tomorrow.”
Brad Binder, 13th in qualification, 6th in the Sprint: “I had a really good start but then missed a bit of speed at the beginning and it became a bit more difficult to hang with the boys. For tomorrow’s race we need to get faster in the final sector, and if we can do that then we’ll do a lot better for sure. The bike felt good in the wet but we need a bit more turning. We’ll have to deal with it tomorrow.”
Enea Bastianini, 11th in qualification, 11th in the Sprint: “Today has been complicated from the morning with our electronics but the team worked on the problem. I was not happy with the race because the start was complicated and I was overtaken by some other riders. Afterwards my pace was not bad…but I expected something better, so I’m a bit disappointed that I was not 100% today. In the wet tomorrow I think we will be doing better, for sure.”
Maverick Viñales, 15th in qualification, DNF in the Sprint: “I was hoping for rain! Very tough to be honest. It was OK in the beginning but then I struggled to control the bike and felt more pain and that was the limit. This track is not Mandalika and it is so fast. In the rain – even if the position of my body on the bike is not perfect – I could fight a lot more. On the right side I am riding good and it’s frustrating. We’ll have to check everything on Sunday.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “We survived the challenging conditions quite well here today. The dry track on Friday was tricky for us but also quite solid and today we managed the mixed conditions. A steady race from both Pedro and Brad and I think we have good pace for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.”
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing
The weather was the main point of Saturday at Phillip Island in MotoGP, with the rain affecting the Qualifying of the Australian GP before letting the way to dry conditions in the Sprint. The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team was ready in every situation with Fabio Di Giannantonio, who ended the Sprint in third place, clinching his second consecutive podium on Saturday. Franco Morbidelli bounced back and crossed the finish line in fourteenth place.
After securing the eighth place (1’36”506) in a challenging qualifying due to the rain, Di Giannantonio had a good start from the third row in the Sprint. However, in the opening stages he lost a position because of the wind and at the second lap he started his comeback. Fabio showed a great rhythm and recovered some ground lap by lap, at halfway of the race he was in the Sprint podium fight. The rider from Rome arrived at the third place defending the position until the chequered flag. He clinched his second consecutive Sprint podium, his thirteenth podium overall on Saturday. Di Giannantonio is now sixth in the World Standing with 252 points.
Morbidelli had a complicated Saturday, as he ended a tricky wet qualifying in twentieth place (1’37”904). A good start from the seventh row allowed Franco to recover one position right away, starting his comeback. The Italian-Brazilian rider showed a great firmness by gaining places throughout the 13-laps Sprint until he arrived at the fourteenth place. He kept this position from lap 9 to the chequered flag, recovering six positions overall. Morbidelli is sixteenth in the World Standing with 59 points.
The Australian GP will conclude tomorrow with the main race, which will start at 2:00 p.m. (local time, +11 UTC).
Fabio Di Giannantonio – 49
“I am happy because from this morning in Qualifying the feeling was amazing on wet. In the Sprint I had a good start, but I made a mistake at Turn 4 and I got stuck because I made a wrong evaluation of the wind, I was thinking it was going on another direction, but it pushed me in the braking and I went wide. But then I realized I had a good pace and I started to overtake, I had fun. It’s a pity that we missed something to do even better, but we showed a good speed during the race. At the final stages we were very close to the second place, but I had stressed the tyre too much and it was hard to overtake, so I preferred keeping my position; we are on the Sprint podium anyway. I am happy because it was important to have a great result on this track for me. For tomorrow, we have a good potential, and the goal will be to perform very well. If it rains, it will be more challenging, but we were good on wet this morning and tomorrow we can have a good race, I am confident.”
Franco Morbidelli – 21
“Today it was a very tough day: yesterday I struggled and today went a little worse than yesterday. We hoped for something more in the rain, but unfortunately I couldn’t be as fast as I wished in wet conditions. I am sorry, because I’ve always performed well in the rain, and this year I secured the Sprint podium on wet track. But today it was tough, especially on a very peculiar track such as Phillip Island, which requires a lot of confidence. We will keep working today and tonight to try to make a step forward tomorrow.”
Aprilia Racing
The sprint at Phillip Island ended with two RS-GP26s in the top six, but was also marked by a crash for Jorge Martín, who suffered a fractured radius and a suspected fracture of the ulna near the right wrist.
Starting ninth, Marco Bezzecchi had a difficult getaway and found himself in twelfth place on the opening lap. From there, the Italian began a determined comeback, picking up places to cross the line in fourth.
It was a difficult Saturday for Jorge Martín, whose excellent getaway put him second by the first corner. The Spaniard was then at the heart of a hard-fought opening to the sprint, with the lead changing hands repeatedly, before crashing at Turn 8 on lap eight. Jorge Martin was taken to the circuit’s medical center following his crash. The x-rays revealed a fracture of the right radius and a suspected fracture of the right ulna at the distal end. Martin will undergo further examinations to reach a definitive assessment of his condition. Martin has been declared unfit for tomorrow’s race.
A sixth place for Ai Ogura of the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team rounded off the day, giving Aprilia two RS-GP26s in the sprint top ten.
MARCO BEZZECCHI
“It’s a real shame for Jorge, the team and everyone at Aprilia, because he was doing a great job. Obviously it’s not over yet. As we’ve seen before in this championship, anything can happen. I want to send him a big hug. As for today, I’m not happy with qualifying. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put together a lap quick enough to start further up the grid. That’s disappointing, because I was quite competitive in the wet and in the dry, but in the mixed conditions in qualifying I couldn’t find the speed. I’m happy with the sprint, though. I really enjoyed it.”
JORGE MARTÍN
“It’s a shame about the nasty crash, but the important thing is that I’m all right after such a dangerous accident. I’m glad nothing serious happened. Further tests will be able to tell us how the situation develops over the coming days.”
FABIANO STERLACCHINI
“Not a particularly positive day. It certainly started badly, with the weather this morning and in qualifying. Even so, thanks to the excellent work we did on Friday, we still managed to take good grid positions. Marco made an excellent comeback, maintaining a very fast pace, which gives us reason to hope for tomorrow. The worst part of the day, though, was Jorge’s crash. But we carry on positively all the same, and on Sunday we’ll try to have a good race.”
Monster Energy Yamaha
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins gained positive momentum in the Grand Prix of Australia Sprint. Showing perseverance, the teammates finished the 13-lap contest in 11th and 13th place respectively.
Quartararo started from P19 and made up five places on the opening two laps. A technical issue for Johann Zarco on lap 4 promoted the Yamaha rider to P13, while a battle with Enea Bastianini halted his charge towards Iker Lecuona ahead. Late retirements for Jorge Martín and Raul Fernández elevated Quartararo to 11th. Coming just 0.442s short to join the battle for ninth, he crossed the finish line 11.215s from the winner.
Rins, starting from P18, dropped to the back of the field on the opening lap but quickly recovered, passing Francesco Bagnaia, Augusto Fernández, Franco Morbidelli, and Maverick Viñales to climb up to P15 by lap 6. Taking advantage of Zarco’s retirement and late incidents for Martín and Raul Fernández, the Spaniard moved up to P13. Rapidly closing in on the four-rider battle for ninth ahead in the final stages, Rins crossed the line in 13th place, 11.568s from first.
Following today’s Sprint, Quartararo is now 15th in the MotoGP World Championship standings with 74 points, while Rins keeps 20th place with 25 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP stay 10th in the Team Championship with 99 points, and Yamaha remain fifth in the Constructor Championship with 99 points.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“Considering our starting positions and how much we struggled this morning, there are quite a few positives to take away from this Sprint. Fabio and Álex both made decent progress through the field and showed good race pace from the first lap to the last. Fabio was able to gain eight positions, and also Álex recovered well after dropping back early on. Our dry performance level was more competitive than the wet qualifying results might have suggested, but it looks like it will rain again for the Race. We will analyse today’s morning sessions’ data carefully, comparing [Jack] Miller’s data, to try to prepare something better for tomorrow.”
FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“This morning I wasn’t feeling good at all in the mixed conditions, but in the Sprint race I was pretty okay. I’m just missing feeling with the front in the last two sectors. Hopefully we can find something in the wet tomorrow so we can have it. I think I’ll feel better in full wet conditions than in the mixed conditions we had this morning. It’s true that Jack [Miller] was also really fast today so, for sure, we have things we can learn.”
ÁLEX RINS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“I’m a little satisfied because I had a good pace, but when I caught up with [Enea] Bastianini in the last five laps, I had no way to get through on him. The unique point, where I was much better than him, was in the first metres coming out of corner 12 – I was catching him there. I would be parallel, next to him, and then fall back again, so it was quite mixed. It looks like tomorrow it will rain. In the wet conditions I think our situation will be similar to what it was in the dry.”
Prima Pramac Yamaha
The Australian Grand Prix continued on a positive trajectory for Jack Miller on Saturday, with the local hero building on the encouraging pace he showed on Friday. Fast in the morning Free Practice session, Miller progressed through Q1 before delivering another strong performance in Q2 to secure fifth place on the grid for his home Grand Prix.
Starting from the second row, the Australian went on to finish eighth in the Sprint, matching his best result of the 2026 season and scoring points in the Saturday race for the first time this year. The result provides further encouragement for Miller and Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, as the team continues to build on the progress made throughout the weekend.
Rain is forecast for Sunday, potentially adding another variable to an already eventful weekend. Miller has plenty of experience in wet conditions and knows Phillip Island exceptionally well, giving him reason to approach the race with confidence whatever the weather brings. The team will be aiming to maintain the momentum and give the Australian the best possible opportunity to match or improve on the performance he has shown so far at his final MotoGP home Grand Prix.
For Augusto Fernandez, Saturday was another important step in his first race weekend with Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, replacing Toprak Razgatlıoğlu following the Turkish rider’s injury. As Yamaha’s test and development rider, Fernandez is already familiar with the YZR-M1, but adapting to the team’s race weekend approach and working on race setup are different challenges. He showed promising speed during the wet morning session, while qualifying and the Sprint proved more demanding as he continued to build his race rhythm. With every session, he is gathering valuable information and working with the team to refine the setup and make further progress.
With the final MotoGP race at Phillip Island approaching, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP will now focus on Sunday’s Grand Prix, hoping to build on Miller’s encouraging performance and continue making progress with Fernandez throughout his replacement appearances.
GINO BORSOI
Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
Australia has already given us a great result in the Sprint, and Jack did an excellent job not only in the race but also in qualifying. We are very happy, especially because I believe these are our first Sprint points of the season. Racing at home clearly gives a rider extra motivation, but it also shows that the bike was able to support him here. We are still losing out on the straights, but through the corners, as Jack said, I think we are quite close to our rivals. That gives me some hope for tomorrow, although we will have to see what the conditions bring.
Above all, I want to congratulate Jack. This result is important for him, his family, the paddock and all his fans, because he truly deserves it.
As for Augusto, we knew he would find the race more difficult because he is still lacking race rhythm. Unfortunately, he has joined us at a point in the season when all the other riders have already completed many races and are fully up to speed. We will keep working with him and help him make progress.
JACK MILLER
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider
It was a day I’m happy-ish with. Qualifying went well, which makes life a lot easier for the Sprint, and we scored our first Sprint points of the season, so I’m happy with that. I was hoping for a little more humidity this afternoon, but unfortunately, it didn’t come. Still, we rode a good race without making mistakes, and I felt comfortable on the bike.
Overall the bike was turning well, and our corner speed was strong. The problem was that I was a bit of a sitting duck on the straights. I managed to keep the gap under control. With Brad, I felt I was faster in the corners while he had the advantage on the straight, so we ended up stuck together until Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio and Ogura came through.
But overall, it was a decent day, and I can’t complain too much. Scoring Sprint points is already a record for us this yesr. We were strong in the wet this morning, qualifying went well and the Sprint was solid. The forecast for tomorrow looks good, and our qualifying position will be important if we get a wet race. Starting further forward and avoiding too much spray, especially here, could make a big difference. It’s a long race in the wet, so we’ll see what the conditions bring and do the best job we can.
I took my time on the in-lap to salute the crowd, and even today the turnout was massive. The fences were packed all the way around the circuit. It’s unreal to see the Australian fans turning it on for Phillip Island, and I’m sure there will be even more people here tomorrow. It looks like it could be another great day for Australian riders, too, with some of us in strong positions on the grid. As for me, we’ll see what tomorrow brings!
AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider
It was a difficult day, mainly because of the conditions and the adaptation required. As we said yesterday, this weekend was always going to be challenging. This morning, I started with a very poor feeling in the wet, but we worked well and I managed to become competitive. In qualifying, the track was drying very quickly and it became more difficult.
In the dry, though, I’m still getting a reality check. I lack rhythm, especially when it comes to getting out on track and putting consecutive laps together. Yesterday, I could manage a reasonably good lap, but I was already struggling to maintain that pace for more than two laps. Today, it was even more difficult. In the wet, I seem to be more competitive, but I need more dry laps to get up to speed as quickly as possible. So, I need to be patient, keep working and hopefully take another step forward. Tomorrow looks likely to be wet again, so we’ll try to make the most of those conditions.
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