SPANISH rider Raul Fernandez, riding an Aprilia, followed up his second placing in the Tissot Sprint on Saturday with a commanding debut win in the premier MotoGP class at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. Australian Moto2 rider, Senna Agius, who qualified second in practice, smashed the field and created history by being the first Australian in Moto2 to win his home Grand Prix. In Moto3, Joel Kelso rode the wheels off his to record a strong second placing to 2025 Moto3 champion Jose Rueda in an outstanding performance.
Frenetic Friday
The three-day weekend commenced with free practice sessions, where riders had to qualify for further qualifying sessions to establish grid starting positions, which provided an exciting start to the weekend’s festivities. With a cooler morning session in free practice one Aussie Jack Miller topped the timesheets on the “true blue” Yamaha, which thrilled quite a large crowd.
Miller announced himself with clear intentions again in free practice two, wringing the Yamaha’s neck to lead the session with 14 minutes to go. A top ten finish in this practice sends riders through to Qualifying 2, the preferred place to be for the top 10 shootout. Miller had blasted around the Island circuit in 1 minute 28 seconds, but the rider avalanche was threatening.
As the weather warmed up for the afternoon, a bruised and battered Marco Bezzecchi riding an Aprilia cranked up the possums and smashed the lap record with a 1 minute 26.4 seconds to establish a new benchmark. Spanish rider Raul Fernandez from Trackhouse Racing, also on an Aprilia, slotted into second while Fabio Di Giannantonio flew the Ducati flag in third spot.
Fans were witnessing one of the most open and unpredictable build-ups to a race for the whole MotoGP season as Aprilia, Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and KTM machines filled the first ten places on the fast-flowing Island circuit. Unfortunately, Aussie Jack Miller, who set the early running could not respond to the upbeat tempo and he qualified 13th for a start in Qualifying One on Saturday!
Sensational Saturday Qualifying Sessions
In Qualifying One, Jack Miller overcame adversity to record the second fastest time in this session from Firmin Aldeguer with both riders going through to the second qualifier. On a dry track, Johann Zarco dropped the Honda at turn 10 in a desperate attempt to run down Miller’s time. The Frenchman was less than impressed giving the battered machine a beating of his own!
In Qualifying Two, Jack Miller led the session with dynamic riding on the Yamaha, giving the Aussie fans something to shout about. With 30 seconds to go in the session, Fabio Quatararo and Marco Bezzecchi overtook Miller, who had to settle for third place on the grid. Still, a front row possie was more than he could have expected at the start of the day. Expectation of an Australian rider on the podium swelled throughout the crowd.
More good news followed in Moto2, where Aussie Senna Agius qualified in second position and Joel Kelso took pole position in Moto3 for Sunday’s races.
Dual Australian MotoGP champion Casey Stoner gave the fans a thrill by completing a number of tribute laps on the Honda while in the skies above Red Bull Air Race world champion pilot Matt Hall kept the crowd enthralled with some stunning aeronautical moves.
Tissot Sprint Race (13 laps)
When the lights went out, Aprilia riders Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi staged their own two-man race while KTM’s Pedro Acosta, Yamaha’s Jack Miller and Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio fought for the last spot on the podium. Although Bezzecchi made a mistake that cost him a significant amount of time coming over Lukey Heights into turn 10, his superior speed allowed him to run down Trackhouse Racing, Fernandez in convincing style.
Pole sitter Fabio Quartararo went backwards from the start to end up in seventh place, some eight seconds behind the winner, blaming his choice of a medium rather than hard compound front tyre, while Ducati Team Lenovo finished in 19th and 20th position in what was an embarrassing outing. In fact, only two Ducatis finished in the top 10 after dominating the MotoGP 2025 season. Have the fans witnessed the end of the long reign of the Ducati manufacturer and the rise of Aprilia?
Race organisers delayed the start of all races for Sunday’s program by one hour due to potential high winds being forecast.
Senna’s Sunday
The Moto3 race of 23 laps kicked off the race program, which had been delayed by an hour due to weather concerns. Aussie, Joel Kelso, who sat on pole, blasted away with Jose Rueda closely shadowing him. The pair of riders cleared out, having a two-man duel in the closing stages, Rueda pulled a vital break to record his 10th victory of the season. Red Bull KTM’s placed first and third with Spaniard Alvaro Carpe some 12 seconds adrift. Kelso got within 0.829 seconds of victory celebrating with the crowd his tremendous achievement.
Australian rider, Senna Agius, on the Kalex in the Moto2 event simply blew the field away, building consistently on a commanding lead to be out by six seconds at one stage before winning by 3.6 seconds from David Alonso on a CFM Moto and Diogo Moreira riding a Kalex. The home crowd saluted and celebrated with Senna, who performed the obligatory “champagne shoey” at the presentation ceremony to the delight of the locals.
In the feature MotoGP race, Tissot Sprint winner, Marco Bezzecchi, had the gauntlet thrust at him after he inherited two long lap penalties in the main event for shunting Marc Marquez off the track in Mandalika last week. Undeterred, Bezzecchi got to an early lead on the Aprilia and took one penalty early on, but the second penalty gave him too much ground to make up. Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez, also on an Aprilia, got a good break on Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez, which they could do little about. Back in the field, Aussie Jack Miller bit the dust early on as the front end gave way, and seasoned veteran, Frenchman, Johann Zarco found the kitty litter exiting Southern Loop. 2024 champion Pecco Bagnaia completed an absolutely miserable weekend for Ducati, throwing his bike down the road at Siberia late in the race.
In the closing stages, the fans’ interest lay in the fight for the minor placings, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Ducati and Marco Bezzecchi closing in on Alex Marquez, who was also riding a Ducati. As Raul Fernandez strolled across the start/finish line to record his first MotoGP win by 1.4 seconds, both Fabio and Marco passed Marquez to take second and third, respectively.
Organisers of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix had presented a spectacularly well-run event, which was supported by a bumper crowd on Friday, an even bigger attendance on Saturday, and a solid Sunday turnout. Local highly talented singer, Imogen Price, lit up the stage on Saturday night in downtown Cowes, giving the visiting fans an absolute musical treat.
As a freelance journalist/photographer, I’d like to thank Canon Photographic Services for providing an outstanding on-track photography loan service where accredited photographers could get to trial the latest lenses and cameras on site.
