The raging battle between Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia to win the 2024 MotoGP World Championship will continue into the 17th round of the season, the Grand Prix of Australia, held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, on the morning of Sunday 20 October.
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Ducati Lenovo's Bagnaia claimed his eighth full-length race win of the season in the previous round in Japan, closing the gap to Riders' Championship leader Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) to 10 points.
With three race weekends in a row, followed by the season finale in Valencia, all within the next month, this title race is set for a thrilling conclusion.
"We have to move on to the next one [the Australian GP] with the same ambition and try to continue like this," said Bagnaia, the reigning world champion from 2022 and 2023.
Martin was satisfied with his own showing, as he remained top of the pack with the end of the season closing in: "Yeah I think I'm happy about the result today, an amazing race for sure being that close to victory.
"Being that close to Pecco [Bagnaia], I wanted to give it a try and I never gave up, in that race I pushed until the end. Congrats to Pecco. Amazing job, he's the master in managing his tyres - I did a good job I think."
Aside from the title battle, another feud to watch out for is that between Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez and Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir – with the pair tangling in Japan, which saw Mir crash out of the race.
“It's not the first time something like this has happened to me with him [Marquez],” said Mir. “I was doing well, I was making a comeback until Alex decided to end my race.”
“This is not a racing incident. When you have a driver in front of you and you hit him without thinking, it's not a simple racing incident.”
Exciting rookie Pedro Acosta will also be looking to bounce back after he crashed out of both the sprint and Grand Prix in Japan – the latter from his first career pole position.
“For this, it’s difficult to say something. It’s true that it was super, super close. Let’s try again in Australia,” said the 20-year-old Spaniard.
“For me, the feeling was really similar to [the sprint race]. It’s difficult to accept the crash. Let’s try again in Australia because we are getting closer.”
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Grand Prix of Australia broadcast details, 19-20 October
All times CAT
Saturday 19 October
01:50: MotoGP Qualifying – LIVE on SuperSport Action and SuperSport Maximo 1
06:00: MotoGP Sprint – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1
Sunday 20 October
02:00: Moto3 Race – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1
03:15: Moto2 Race – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1
05:00: MotoGP Race – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1