Pramac’s Jorge Martin cruised his way to a stunning Australian MotoGP Sprint victory in Phillip Island to extend his lead in the riders’ standings.
Martin was in control of the race from start to finish as he took the flag 1.520s clear of his nearest challengers Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini.
The Pramac rider got off to a good start from pole position and retained his lead going into the first corner ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and Francesco Bagnaia.
Many riders struggled going into Turn 1, including Marquez, who ran wide after a good initial jump off the line.
Maverick Vinales had a difficult start after starting the race in third but was able to recover well, though a late move from Brad Binder forced the Aprilia rider to sit up and drop down to seventh.
Martin looked to clear off out front as battles raged on behind him, with Bagnaia breezing past Bezzecchi after Marquez made a strong move stick on Binder.
Marquez clearly had a pace advantage over Bagnaia. He followed the Ducati around the track for three laps before completing his move on Lap 8.
Bastianini also had the edge over his teammate and pushed himself past Bagnaia and onto the podium.
Late in the race, the battle was between Vinales and Bezzecchi for fifth, with the Aprilia rider looking to pass the VR46 bike on the main straight.
Vinales would get past, but the Italian was sucked into the slipstream and crashed into the back of the Spanish rider, taking both out of the race in a scarily fast incident at Turn 1.
Binder also crashed out of contention in the late stages as the sprint came to a chaotic close.
Martin took the chequered flag in dominant fashion to record his sixth Sprint win of the season.
Marquez proved he still had the pace to challenge as he earned another second place in a MotoGP Sprint in 2024.
Bastianini rounded out the podium of Ducatis in third, just over two seconds clear of teammate Bagnaia in fourth.
Fabio Di Giannantonio benefited from the clash between Vinales and Bezzecchi and took fifth, but was noted as under investigation for a potential tyre pressure infringement.
Franco Morbidelli crossed the line in sixth after incidents in front of him, with Raul Fernandez trailing behind as the top non-Ducati in seventh.
Aleix Espargaro earned eighth for Aprilia after starting down in 20th, as Augusto Fernandez picked up the final Sprint point in ninth.
Repsol Honda’s Luca Marini rounded out the top 10 ahead of the Yamaha pairing of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins in 11th and 12th respectively.
Joan Mir finished 14th, with Takaaki Nakagami and Lorenzo Savadori concluding the finishers in 15th and 16th.
Binder, Vinales and Bezzecchi all crashed out in the late stages and did not finish, with Pedro Acosta, Jack Miller, Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco also dropping out of the Sprint.
