Moto GP 2022 Round 18, Australian Grand Prix

Australia, October 17, 2022:  357 days after his last trip to the podium, Marc Marquez became just the fourth rider in history to achieve 100 premier class podiums after a thrilling Phillip Island battle while Espargaro fought for the top ten.

The sun was shining down on the Phillip Island Circuit as Marc Marquez lined up in the centre of the front row of the grid for the 27 lap race. With clear track ahead of him, the #93 charged off the line to tuck in just behind polesitter Jorge Martin for the opening half of the race as they avoided the frantic battle behind. As the laps went by, the competition grew closer and it was soon a seven-way battle for the victory – a true Phillip Island classic. It would only be decided in the closing laps, Marquez saving his soft rear for an all-out assault at the end.

Pushing until the line, for the 31st time in his MotoGP career the eight-time World Champion took second place and earned his 100th premier class podium in the process. Marc Marquez narrowly missed out on a return to the top step of the podium 0.186s behind Rins. 357 days after his last podium, achieved at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 2021, Marquez has once again taken to the rostrum. After incredible efforts to return to fitness after a fourth surgery on his injured right arm, the podium shows the great progress that Marquez is making in his ongoing recovery.

The eight-timme World Champion becomes just the fourth rider to achieve 100 podium finishes in the premier class, joining Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa in an exclusive club. From 152 MotoGP starts, Marquez has achieved 59 wins and has finished in the top three in 65% of his premier class races. The second-place finish also moves him level with Spanish legend Angel Nieto, the pair sharing 139 podiums across all Grand Prix classes.

Behind, Pol Espargaro made an aggressive start to the race as he tried to hustle his way into the top ten. He quickly found himself battling with several other riders which saw him stuck in 14th place for the opening half of the race. Sticking to his plan and conserving his tyres, the #44 began to make steady progress in the final 13 laps as he worked his way forward to 11th at the line.

Now the Repsol Honda Team head for the penultimate race of the year at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. From the cold and wind of Phillip Island, it looks set to be a classic weekend in Malaysia with scorching temperatures and high humidity. The work continues right until the end.

Marc Marquez (2^nd)

“It was a great race today; I really enjoyed the battle a lot and the feeling of returning to the podium is fantastic. It has been a long journey and we have reached the next stage. The soft rear was certainly the correct option for us in the race, I felt quite good, and I was able to fight until the end. At the start I was managing the situation a little bit, but I really enjoyed the race, I tried to win! Alex Rins did really well in the last few laps. I left everything out on track today and I really enjoyed all the overtakes, especially at Turn 2 because the bike was working really well there. We are coming better but there is still work to do. It’s great to achieve this milestone of 100 premier class podiums and an honour to draw equal with Nieto but we are not done yet!”

Pol Espargaro (11^th)

“Our race today was quite similar to the last races; we were playing catch up a lot during the race. We were probably a bit closer to the front this race than in the previous ones, but the pace of the race overall was slower than we thought it would be. Again, starting so far back on the grid makes it really hard and especially at a circuit like Phillip Island – there’s a lot of turbulence and the opening laps you have to be really precise. We started the weekend well here, so we can see that there is some potential there but missing out on Q2 really hurt us. Two races left in the season; we keep on going.”

Australian Grand Prix – Race Results

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	RINS ALEX	42	SPA	25	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	40’50.654
2	MARQUEZ MARC	93	SPA	20	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	0.186
3	BAGNAIA FRANCESCO	62	ITA	16	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	0.224
4	BEZZECCHI MARCO	73	ITA	13	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	0.534
5	BASTIANINI ENEA	23	ITA	11	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	0.557
6	MARINI LUCA	10	ITA	10	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	0.688
7	MARTIN JORGE	89	SPA	9	Pramac Racing	Ducati	0.884
8	ZARCO JOHANN	5	FRA	8	Pramac Racing	Ducati	3.141
9	ESPARGARO ALEIX	41	SPA	7	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	4.548
10	BINDER BRAD	33	RSA	6	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	5.94
11	ESPARGARO POL	44	SPA	5	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	11.048
12	OLIVEIRA MIGUEL	88	POR	4	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	13.606
13	CRUTCHLOW CAL	35	GBR	3	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	13.89
14	BINDER DARRYN	40	RSA	2	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	14.526
15	GARDNER REMY	87	AUS	1	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	19.47
16	FERNANDEZ RAUL	25	SPA	0	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	20.645
17	VINALES MAVERICK	12	SPA	0	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	22.167
18	MIR JOAN	36	SPA	0	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	23.489
19	NAGASHIMA TETSUTA	45	JPN	0	LCR Honda	Honda	39.618
20	DI GIANNANTONIO FABIO	49	ITA	0	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	39.633
21	MORBIDELLI FRANCO	21	ITA	0	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	DNF
22	QUARTARARO FABIO	20	FRA	0	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	DNF
23	MILLER JACK	43	AUS	0	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	DNF
24	MARQUEZ ALEX	73	SPA	0	LCR Honda	Honda	DNF

 

Rider Standings

 

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor
1	BAGNAIA FRANCESCO	62	ITA	233	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati
2	QUARTARARO FABIO	20	FRA	219	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha
3	ESPARGARO ALEIX	41	SPA	206	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia
4	BASTIANINI ENEA	23	ITA	191	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati