The Australian Grand Prix weekend had it all. There was the usual wild Phillip Island weather, which led to a cancelled session on Friday but at least didn’t interfere with the schedule as it had in 2023.
Marc Marquez overcame yet another self-inflicted drama – this time a tear-off getting stuck beneath his tyre at the start – to win what has to rank as the most satisfying grand prix of his first season on a Ducati. He beat Jorge Martin in a genuine duel, complete with place-swapping to thrill those who had braved the chilly weather and travelled to the island.
With Martin winning the sprint on Sunday, and Francesco Bagnaia emerging with a relatively modest fourth and third from the sprint and grand prix respectively, the gap between Martin and Bagnaia has doubled to 20 points.
Here are seven things we learned from the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
1. Marc Marquez keeps getting better
The victory at Aragon at the start of September was an emotional one for Marquez. It was his first on a Ducati, after several months of trying – and it came at home in Spain. But it wasn’t entirely unexpected, given it was a low-grip circuit that suited the Marquez package. Nor was any elbow-to-elbow fighting required to seal it, as he rode clear of the field.
When he won next time out at Misano, it was a tailor-made situation for the eight-time world champion. Uncertain weather is exactly what the Gresini rider wants in order to challenge the latest GP24 machines. And that’s what he got when it spat with rain in Italy. He even admitted he wouldn’t have won without the weather factor.
But Phillip Island? A challenging test of rider skill, yes, but a track that had been resurfaced. Nobody was complaining about a lack of grip on the Australian GP weekend. And although the weather did interfere with the untimed sessions, it was dry for Practice, Q2 and the races.
Marquez also had to conquer a powerful rival in wheel-to-wheel combat to win in Australia. Martin, remember, had secured pole position by over half a second on Saturday. And Marquez had had to concede defeat to him after misjudging the first corner in the sprint.
But come Sunday, not even dropping to 13th – after inflicting a terrible getaway on himself by throwing a tear-off under his tyre – could keep Marquez down. Looking after rubber was a factor in the grand prix, and most riders would not have managed to battle through the field and still have the tyre life left to take it to the championship leader at the back end of the race.
But Marquez found a way, winning a straight fight around the ultimate riders’ circuit. For this reason, the Australian GP has to go down as the most satisfying and impressive of his three wins this season.
The way he’s trending, things could be a real yawn if Marquez ever gets both his qualifying and his starts right on the same weekend.
2. Jorge Martin is better than he thinks he is
For an elite sportsman, Pramac Ducati rider Martin is unusually candid in talking about his doubts in public. When you’re involved in a battle at the very peak of any discipline, the time-honoured approach is to keep negative stuff to yourself. To pretend you’ve got it all in hand and never show any weakness to your rival or rivals.
Two weeks ago in Japan, Martin said he was worried about the prospect of rain at Motegi. The downpours never came, but on the same weekend he also admitted to “riding like a rookie” and to copying the maestro Marquez after following him in the sprint.
Then, in Australia, when facing routine questions about the run-in to the championship, he said there were still “three races in which to make mistakes”. Again, while mistakes have indeed been a feature of this year’s title fight with Bagnaia, a top sportsperson usually dwells on the positives and the best-case scenario. Especially when their foe is sitting right next to them.
After his sprint win at Phillip Island, Martin was also happy to tell media – and so his competition – that he had to fight to maintain his concentration whilst leading, unthreatened, from start to finish. Somehow you can’t imagine him being selected to the Spanish national poker team.
Martin’s continued openness about these matters probably contributes to what Pedro Acosta has called a “lack of spice” between the title rivals. It’s hardly gladiatorial when the protagonists are sitting down to share their feelings and doubts in front of an audience.
Spicy or otherwise, it’s easy to interpret statements like this from Martin as a sign of psychological weakness. And yet there’s little evidence of that in his performances. Indeed, his results suggest that all sportspeople grapple with the same doubts – Martin just says them out loud.
Because regardless of Martin sometimes sounding a little negative or defeatist, he keeps on going out there and delivering results. A qualifying crash in Japan aside, he raced superbly on both days. And he was sublime in Australia, scorching to pole with no serious errors all weekend.
Either Martin has a special ability to switch off his doubts when the visor comes down, or he’s so good he can deliver in spite of them.
3. Francesco Bagnaia has much to ponder
Speaking of doubts, these are not something Bagnaia is in the habit of revealing. But after Australia, he wouldn’t be human if there weren’t a few lurking in his mind.
It must surely be frustrating to watch Marquez and Martin find the limit so quickly and be unable to do the same. Friday provided a graphic illustration of that, as the cancellation of FP1 and dark clouds above the track at the start of Practice meant riders had to attack for lap times without any chance to explore the resurfaced Phillip Island track.
Marquez responded magnificently, dominating the session from the green flag. And Martin was always a step ahead of Bagnaia, even after being derailed by an early fall. And when Saturday’s FP2 was damp, the analytical double world champion seemed to fall even further behind, going the wrong way on set-up.
Without proper practice time, Australia snowballed into a tough weekend by Bagnaia’s standards. Fourth in the sprint and third in the grand prix saw him slip from a 10-point deficit to a 20-point disadvantage in the title race.
With one of his weaker tracks behind him, Bagnaia talked up his chances of hitting back in Thailand and Malaysia over the next two weekends. While he’s right to point out that he’s “very fast” at Buriram and Sepang, there isn’t anything in the form book to suggest Martin will not be the same. Indeed, it was Martin who won in Thailand last year.
While Martin might be his main preoccupation for the rest of this year, it may also have crossed Bagnaia’s mind that he’ll be sharing a garage – and the latest equipment – with Marquez next year. It’s not a thought many racers would relish right now.
4. Pedro Acosta is a little imp
KTM’s sensation was as ordinary in Australia as he had been outstanding in Japan. Perhaps daunting Phillip Island is one track where even a talent like his needs a bit of dry track time if it’s their first visit on a MotoGP bike.
Acosta certainly had pace when he could string it together, but running off the road in Practice on Friday cost him a spot in Q2. Then he got the timing of his final run wrong on a drying circuit in Q1, and was condemned to a lowly grid slot of 15th. A fall in the sprint put him out of action for the grand prix on Sunday, rounding off a solid thump back to earth after mixing it with the big boys at Motegi.
Acosta’s finest performance of the weekend, then, was probably his contribution to the Thursday press conference involving Bagnaia and Martin. Invited by video link to contribute a question precisely because of his comments around a lack of “spice” between the Ducati pair, Acosta thought for a while and then asked if “the manufacturer will influence this championship battle”.
Coming from a KTM rider who has never been in contention for the title, it was a gratuitous attempt to stir the pot. Credit should go to Dorna for allowing the impish question – perhaps even MotoGP’s promoters agree with Acosta’s view of the protagonists. And to Acosta for asking it.
Martin, for the record, did not offer any firm denial that Ducati would contemplate such a thing.
5. It’s hard to stay patient with Jack Miller
A popular rider is always harder to criticise and can be defended to a disproportionate degree by adoring media who wish a good bloke no ill. Particularly when there are more English-speaking journalists than there are native English-speaking riders, of which Jack Miller is one of only two.
Racing in front of his home fans in Australia, however, Miller fell twice in practice on Friday, qualified 16th and then fell off in the sprint. He then rounded off the weekend with an 11th place in the grand prix.
Yes, the local wildlife had a part to play in Miller’s misfortunes this weekend (see below). And yes, his was a better Aussie GP than that of fellow KTM rider Acosta. And yes, Acosta actually falls off more. But Acosta is a rookie and he’s with a satellite team.
Yes, Miller has been battling some extraordinary difficulties with the bike. But his stablemate Brad Binder has the same package, and he’s got 192 points to Miller’s 71. He lies fifth in the standings whilst Miller is 14th.
Valid though the reasons for his results may well be, one thing’s for sure: if Miller’s fans and defenders have a patience threshold at all, the Australian is surely getting dangerously close to hitting it.
6. We need more tracks like Phillip Island
Marquez said after Sunday’s thrilling grand prix that Phillip Island is an exception in terms of the quality racing it provides. As if we needed reminding!
The stop-start circuits that make up most of the calendar are the problem, according to Marquez. With the aero MotoGP bikes now run, these tracks aren’t a good fit for bikes being able to follow each other or, if that goes well, overtake each other.
Hopefully, the new rules coming in for 2027 will go a long way towards addressing a problem everybody understands. Still, a few more Phillip Islands on the schedule would only help the cause. They’re fundamentally more exciting anyway.
Granted, there aren’t a lot of those around any more. At least not so many that meet safety requirements. What a shame Assen got chopped in half. Long live Silverstone and Mugello. And Brno’s return to the schedule next year should be a positive.
We witnessed the aero effect at its worst at Motegi two weeks ago. Surely it’s time for a solution to be found that could bring Suzuka back into consideration for the Japanese round?
And let’s not forget that although Hockenheim has also been chopped in half, good old power circuits haven’t entirely disappeared. Tracks like the Salzburgring used to deliver exciting action of a different kind – pure slipstreaming duels. The quirky little Salzburgring is still with us. Moreover, it’s in Red Bull’s backyard…
7. Aussie animals wield power over results
On Friday, track action at Phillip Island was twice stopped as Cape Barren geese decided to go for a walk across the circuit. Martin also had a very near miss with a rabbit that clearly didn’t look left and right before crossing.
On Saturday, Miller took an unfortunate seagull for on a free ride around the thrilling sweeps of the Victorian classic during the sprint. It was, as the Aussie noted, “not ideal”.
By pure strokes of luck, none of these incidents had a significant impact on the result of the race or the world championship. But the grand prix on Sunday was a clear reminder that Australian wildlife in particular can have a material impact on outcomes.
The beast that landed on Marquez’s visor was ‘only’ a large insect, but it was enough to have the Spaniard reaching for a tear-off just before the start. This ruined his start as it got stuck beneath the rear tyre. Had it been any other rider than Marquez, it would probably have succeeded in ruining his race as well.
Nobody wants clashes with animals at a racing circuit. Bagnaia remarked that “something should be done” but Australia knows all too well that you can’t fence in rabbits. It’s also hard to legislate against flying creatures. Realistically, wildlife will remain an occupational hazard at Phillip Island – and one that may even decide a title one day.
