Jorge Martin stages spectacular comeback at Phillip Island

The first dry day of the weekend at Phillip Island produced a crash-strewn Moto3 race, with up to ten riders including Mahindra Pull&Bear Aspar rider Pecco Bagnaia sliding out before the red flag was produced due to a pile-up.

The restart was dominated by Brad Binder, who left Andrea Locatelli in no man’s land in second place as a huge group of up to twelve riders formed in the battle for the final podium position. In the end it was Aron Canet, who took a maiden podium by a narrow margin over the World Champion’s brother Darryn Binder.

Livio Loi, Mahindra Pull&Bear Aspar rider Jorge Martín and Marcos Ramírez were the next three riders across the line, all of them within half a second of the podium. There was little change to the top of the championship, with the riders placed from second to ninth all failing to score points at Phillip Island.

It has been a bittersweet Australian Grand Prix for the Mahindra Pull&Bear Aspar Team. Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín both spent at least some of the race in podium contention, Martín coming away with the best result of the pair in sixth place.

The Spaniard had to start the restarted race from the back of the grid after his bike stalled on the warm-up lap, but he made his way through the pack to hold third place with four laps to go, eventually taking sixth in a tight group finish.

6th Jorge Martín:
“In the first race I got caught up in somebody else’s crash but luckily I didn’t go down myself, although I ended up in last place. Anyway, I didn’t want to give up so I focused on trying to score points. After the second crash, which was really nasty, I gave Jorge Navarro a lift back to the pits and it burned out my clutch. We changed it but the bike stalled on the grid and I had to start from the back. It is a shame because I made it up to third even though I started from the back, but sixth place still gives us some decent points for the championship. I gave my maximum, I knew I could be at the front and with a better start I could have gone with the lead two, but without a slipstream it is very difficult.”

Source: Aspar Media