Philip Island, Australia, October 17th - The Australian Grand Prix, which has been absent from the MotoGP calendar for the past two years, allowed Remy Gardner's fans to come and cheer on their champion. The Tech 3 rider rewarded them by finishing in the points.
At his first home Grand Prix since 2019, Remy Gardner managed to grab the point for the 15th place in a particularly close fought race that saw him finish less than 20 seconds behind the winner. “I got a good start and stayed close to the lead group for thirteen or fourteen laps," said the Australian. “I felt good on the bike and for a while I even managed to hold tenth position. Then when my tyres started to deteriorate I lost some ground. But overall it was a positive experience. I had a lot of fun on the bike and the reception from the fans was great." Raul Fernandez, who battled for a long time with Franco Morbidelli, finished sixteenth, just one second behind his teammate. "I had a very good rhythm at the end of the race and I'm happy to have achieved the same times as the other KTM riders," commented the Spaniard.
Sam Lowes had not scored a single point since his third place at the German Grand Prix. The Elf Marc VDS rider had been out of action for several weeks due to injury, but managed to finish twelfth in Australia, despite a heavy crash on Saturday morning. Tony Arbolino thought he could get onto the podium but he crashed on lap seven. The Italian was fourth on the grid and was running in second place when he lost the front end of his Kalex. “I'm really disappointed because I was feeling good on the bike," he explained. “Unfortunately, when I was overtaking an opponent, a gust of wind knocked me off balance. I'm sorry for the team."
Deniz Öncü came close to victory again at Phillip Island. Fighting from start to finish in the leading quartet, the Elf rider passed under the chequered flag in second position, on the heels of Izan Guevara, the new Moto3 world champion. A result that allowed him to move up to fifth place in the overall standings. “It was the first time in a long time that I was able to ride normally," said Deniz. “I had been suffering from a shoulder injury for weeks, and then there was that injured finger in Japan... This weekend I was finally back on my feet and able to give it my all on the bike. I had planned to attack the last lap in second position, to try to pass in front at the exit of the last corner but unfortunately I was not close enough to Guevara to pass him before the line. Still, I’m happy to be back on the podium." Adrian Fernandez, who was forced to take two long penalty laps at the start of the race, was never able to get among the leaders. "I had a good pace in practice and I'll do my best in Malaysia next week," declared the Spaniard.
| CATEGORY | RIDER | RACE | CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOTOGP |
Remy Gardner |
15th |
23rd (10 points) |
|
Raul Fernandez |
16th |
24th (9 points) |
|
| MOTO2 |
Sam Lowes |
12th |
18th (55 points) |
|
Tony Arbolino |
DNF |
6th (150.5 points) |
|
| MOTO3 |
Deniz Öncü |
2nd |
5th (174 points) |
|
Adrian Fernandez |
18th |
20th (40 points) |
