The Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac) won the first victory of his career in MotoGP by winning on Saturday October 21 during the Australian GP ahead of the championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) lost everything on the last lap and finished fifth.
Starting in fifth position, the Frenchman had a superb race and took control on the last lap while his teammate was in distress. He resisted the reigning world champion until the end.
Present in the premier category of motorcycling since 2017, Johann Zarco, double Moto2 world champion (2015, 2016) waited for the end of his seventh season and his 120e Grand Prix to finally secure his first success in MotoGP.
“It gives me so many emotions”
“The feeling is incredible. I had a good start and had to fight a lot. When I was behind Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia], I held on to stay in touch. We saw that Jorge Martin was slowing down a lot and I tried to pass”he explained directly. “After so many races, finally winning, it gives me so many emotions… I still have a hard time realizing it”added the Frenchman before taking the first step of the podium.
Johann Zarco’s happiness, however, brought misfortune to Jorge Martin, who started from pole position and dominated the entire race before collapsing on the last lap and losing valuable points in the race for the world title.
The Spaniard, who is now 27 lengths behind Francesco Bagnaia in the championship, lost the very daring bet he had tried: the soft tire that he had decided to put on the rear, unlike almost all of his opponents who had put on a medium tire, did not last the distance and he fell back five places on the last lap.
Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati-Gresini) also seized his chance and finished third, securing the first podium of his MotoGP career. The other Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), had a complicated race: starting in 16e position, he finally took an anonymous 14e place, a week after his podium in Indonesia (3e).