Jorge Martin Triumphs in Dramatic 2024 Australian MotoGP Sprint as Di Giannantonio Faces Tyre Penalty and Bezzecchi Incident Looms

2024 Australian MotoGP, Phillip Island – Updated Sprint Race Outcomes Following Tyre Pressure Penalty

Outcomes from the sprint race at the Australian MotoGP held at Phillip Island, marking the 17th of 20 rounds in the 2024 world championship series, have been revised due to a penalty related to

After being penalized with an 8-second penalty due to insufficient tire pressure, Fabio di Giannantonio, a VR46 team rider, saw his position fall from fifth to seventh in the final results.

The FIM Stewards have delayed making a ruling on the incident involving Bezzecchi and Vinales until Sunday, citing Bezzecchi's "current medical condition" as the reason. Although no fractures were found at the medical center, the Italian rider has traveled to Melbourne for additional examinations.

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Results of the Sprint Race at the 2024 Australian MotoGP, Phillip Island

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Jorge Martin clinched victory in the 2024 Australian MotoGP Sprint race, extending his lead in the championship standings over Francesco Bagnaia. Bagnaia, who initially reached second place, eventually finished in fourth.

Kicking off from a commanding pole position, Martin maintained his lead throughout the race to secure his inaugural win at Phillip Island.

At the same time, Bagnaia quickly advanced from his starting position in fifth place.

Upon reaching second place, the Italian rider was unable to challenge Martin and instead was overtaken by Marc Marquez, who had made a comeback from eighth position at Turn 1, as well as his factory Ducati teammate, Enea Bastianini.

In the final moments, a surprising event occurred involving Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Vinales.

The VR46 racer collided with the rear of the Aprilia at a speed of 140mph after getting pulled into the slipstream of the RS-GP approaching Turn 1.

As Bezzecchi attempted to steer clear of a collision, his back tire lifted off the ground, ultimately resulting in him losing control of the front and crashing into the Spanish rider.

An enraged Vinales left the scene, while Bezzecchi first needed to be carried on a stretcher and then was transported to the medical center on the back of a motorcycle.

The FIM Stewards are currently looking into the matter.

Fabio di Giannantonio, who is part of the VR46 team alongside Bezzecchi, is being scrutinized due to concerns about having low tyre pressure.

The majority of racers opted for the soft rear tire during the 13-lap competition. However, Bezzecchi, who began from the second row, along with Johann Zarco and Lorenzo Savadori, chose to go with the medium tire, which has a firmer build.

In the cold weather conditions, Alex Rins and Joan Mir were the sole riders who chose the medium front tire instead of the hard one.

The sprint race held today marked the inaugural event of its kind at Phillip Island, following the adjustment of last year's grand prix to Saturday because of storm alerts. This year's 2023 Sprint, however, was ultimately called off on Sunday due to severe weather conditions.

Takaaki Nakagami will be starting three positions further back on the grid in tomorrow's grand prix, while Alex Marquez is required to complete a long lap penalty due to an incident at Motegi.

As there is no MotoGP data available for the newly resurfaced Phillip Island track, Michelin has decided to provide an additional third option for the rear tyre this weekend.

Michelin's Piero Taramasso announced that the front tires will utilize the same soft, medium, and hard compounds as in 2023. However, for the rear tires, they will be introducing three options rather than the standard two.

"We will be using the soft compound, maintaining its standard inner design, along with two additional tires featuring medium and hard compounds. These latter tires have a strengthened build, similar to what was observed in Mandalika at the end of September."

The medium compound tire used in last year's event, known as the soft rear, was chosen by the majority of riders for the grand prix on Saturday.

Due to fractures in his right wrist sustained in Mandalika, Miguel Oliveira remains unable to compete. In his place, Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori will step in for the Trackhouse team.

Ducati Lenovo, with a 167-point lead over Pramac, has the opportunity to secure their fourth MotoGP teams' championship if they maintain a lead of at least 198 points upon concluding the Australian race.

For the 2024 season, new regulations regarding tyre pressure require that riders maintain a minimum front tyre pressure of 1.8 bar, reduced from the previous 1.88 bar. This pressure must be upheld for at least 60% of the distance in a Grand Prix race, an increase from the prior requirement of 50%, or for 30%

In a Grand Prix, if a participant fails to achieve the minimum requirements, they will receive a 16-second penalty added to their race time. For Sprint or shorter races, the penalty is reduced to 8 seconds.

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