MotoGP: Marc Marquez wins the sprint in Australia, overtaking Martin in the World Championship

From -2 to +10. Saturday at Phillip Island returned Marc Marquez to the top of the standings and brought him closer to his ninth world title. The reigning champion won the MotoGP sprint race, while Jorge Martin left the circuit on a stretcher and will not take part in the long race tomorrow.

It was the epilogue of a "beautiful, borderline, but clean" duel - as Marquez himself defined it - decided by a crash by the Madrilenian in the eighth of the 13 laps, when he was second and attempting yet another comeback. A very hard blow for his world championship ambitions. Martin suffered a fractured radius, plus a suspected fracture of the right ulna distally. A CT scan awaits him in Melbourne to decide whether surgery will be necessary. All Ducati podium, with Alex Marquez second and Fabio Di Giannantonio third. Bitter day for Aprilia, not only for Martin's knockout, but also for Marco Bezzecchi's fourth place, now weighed down by a 50-point delay.

Marquez started from pole - achieved despite a crash on the slightly wet asphalt - while Martin was fourth on the grid. Under a threatening sky, but without any further rain, he took the lead on the third lap, starting a heated duel with his rival. Until, in an attempt to get back into the lead, Martin lost the front of his Aprilia, ending up in the gravel at 180 km per hour. "It was a close battle, for the World Championship - declared Marquez - I gave everything. I was aggressive, and he (Martin) was faster than me in some points. I tried to defend myself in the best possible way. We both drove to the limit, we both deserved the victory. But, you know, racing is like that. The end of the season is approaching and all the circuits and points will be important, you always have to attack." Pedro Acosta (KTM) finished fifth. Yet another 'no' race for Francesco Bagnaia. Having started 16th, he returned to the garage on the second lap.

At the start, Marc Marquez maintained his line, passing first at the initial corner, followed by Martin and Johann Zarco (Honda) in third, then put offside by a gearbox problem.

Martin pushed, taking the lead on lap three and turning the race into a melee. The two title contenders quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. An error by Martin on the fifth lap - an off-track exit - reopened the door to Marquez. The Spaniard from Aprilia thus had to force the pace, ending up throwing the race and, perhaps, the entire season to the wind.