Phillip Island, Australia — Raul Fernandez clinched his maiden MotoGP victory at the Australian Grand Prix, securing a historic first win for his Trackhouse Racing Aprilia team in a dramatic race marked by penalties and changing fortunes.
The Spanish rider, competing in his 76th premier class race, beat Italian Fabio DiGiannantonio of Ducati by 1.418 seconds. Fellow Italian Marco Bezzecchi, also on an Aprilia, finished third, 2.410 seconds adrift of Fernandez. This victory made Fernandez the seventh different winner of the season.
“We knew we had to save the rear tire,” Fernandez said after the race, his first win since the 2021 Valencia Grand Prix in Moto2. “It was a super long race for me. The last five laps were very difficult to get through.”
The race unfolded with early dominance from Marco Bezzecchi, who faced a two-long-lap penalty for causing a crash that injured multiple-time champion Marc Márquez in the previous Indonesian round. Bezzecchi initially pushed hard to build an advantage before serving his penalty.
“It was a super difficult race,” Bezzecchi explained. “With the penalty, it became even more complicated. I pushed at the start to gain some advantage when I served the penalties.”
After serving his penalty, Bezzecchi dropped to seventh place before recovering to claim the final spot on the podium.
Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira, also of Trackhouse Racing Aprilia, finished 12th after starting 16th. He momentarily dropped to 17th but steadily gained positions.
Oliveira benefited from crashes involving Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia and Honda’s Joan Mir. On the final lap, he passed Spain’s Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati) to secure his 12th-place finish.
The result earned Oliveira four points, bringing his season total to 36 and placing him 20th in the championship standings.
Multiple-time champion Marc Márquez and title contender Jorge Martin of Aprilia were both absent from the race due to injuries. The MotoGP paddock now looks ahead to the Malaysian Grand Prix, scheduled for next week.