In Australia, Bagnaia, Martin was followed by Frenchman Johan Sarko in fifth place

Frenchman Johan Sarko (Ducati-Pramac) took the first victory of his MotoGP career on Saturday to overtake championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) to win the Australian GP, ​​while Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) lost everything on the final lap to finish fifth. .

Starting fifth, the Frenchman had a great race and took control on the last lap while his teammate was in distress. He defied the reigning world champion until the end.

In motorcycling’s premier division since 2017, double Moto2 World Champion Sarko (2015, 2016) waited until the end of his seventh season and 120th Grand Prix to take his first victory in MotoGP.

“The feeling is incredible. I made a good start, I had to fight a lot. When I was behind Bekov (Bagnaya), I kept contact. We saw that Jorge Martin slowed down a lot and I tried to pass. ,” he explained directly.

“After so many races, finally winning gives me so much emotion… It’s still hard for me to realize it,” said the Frenchman before taking the first step on the podium.

Sarko’s delight, however, was the misfortune of Martin, who had started from pole position and dominated the entire race, when he crashed on the last lap and lost valuable points in the race for the world title.

The Spaniard, who is now 27 lengths behind Bagnaia in the championship, lost the bravest race he had attempted: the soft tire he had decided to put on the rear, unlike all his opponents, who put on a medium tyre, did. The distance didn’t last and dropped back five places on the last lap.

Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati-Grassini) took his chance to finish third, earning the first podium of his MotoGP career.

The other Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), had a complicated race: starting in 16th place, he finally finished in an anonymous 14th place, after his podium in Indonesia (3rd).