Marquez Wins Australian MotoGP Sprint as Martin Crash Rules Title Rival Out of Sunday Race

Marc Marquez won the Australian Grand Prix sprint at Phillip Island on Saturday, beating his brother Alex Marquez by 0.323 seconds after title rival Jorge Martin crashed at high speed on lap eight and was later ruled out of Sunday's grand prix with a fractured right radius.

The result moved Marquez to 365 points in the MotoGP standings, 10 points clear of Martin. Marco Bezzecchi, who finished fourth in the sprint, is now 50 points behind Marquez in third place. Fabio Di Giannantonio finished third to complete an all Ducati podium.

Nine lead changes in eight laps

Marquez started from pole position and Martin, who had led the standings by two points before the race, charged from fourth on the grid to second at the first corner. The two riders then swapped the lead nine times inside the first eight laps of the 13 lap sprint, on a dry track after morning rain.

Martin briefly lost second place to Alex Marquez at Turn 10 on lap two, then took it back at Turn 1 on the next lap. He attacked Marc Marquez at Turn 4, ran wide, took the lead at Turn 10, and lost it again after running wide at Turn 4 two laps later. A move at Turn 1 on lap six put Martin back in front, and the pair traded places again at the start of lap eight.

Martin crash and injury

Martin's race ended at the fast Turn 8 right hander on lap eight. He lost the front end while chasing Marquez, bounced through the gravel, and was carried away on a stretcher to the circuit medical centre.

Aprilia later said X-rays showed a fracture of the right radius and a suspected fracture of the right ulna at the distal end, near the wrist. The team said Martin will have further examinations for a full assessment and that he has been declared unfit for Sunday's race. He was the 2024 world champion and had started the day as the points leader.

With Martin out, Marc Marquez held off Alex Marquez to the flag. It was his ninth sprint win of the year and the 24th sprint win of his career, according to Crash.net. Pedro Acosta finished fifth, ahead of Ai Ogura, Brad Binder and home rider Jack Miller in eighth. Johann Zarco retired on lap four with a technical problem, and Raul Fernandez, Maverick Vinales and Francesco Bagnaia also failed to finish.

A pole won after a qualifying crash

Marquez had taken pole earlier on Saturday in wet qualifying after falling on his opening flying lap. He returned on his spare bike and set a lap of 1 minute 34.203 seconds, almost 1.5 seconds clear of Alex Marquez, with Johann Zarco third.

Honda's factory team had no rider in the sprint. Luca Marini was declared unfit for the rest of the weekend on Saturday morning after a virus left him with fever and muscle weakness, and his team mate Joan Mir was already absent. Marini's target is a return at next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, where he faces another medical check.

Sunday's grand prix now runs without Martin, which removes Marquez's closest rival from the race and gives Marquez a chance to extend a lead he has only just retaken. No recovery time for Martin has been given, because the full assessment is still to come.