MotoGP: The grip and consistency of Michelin tires contribute to Australia win for Marquez
The Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix (Round 17 of the 2014 MotoGPTM World Championship) was won by Gresini Racing MotoGP's Marc Marquez after a thrilling scrap with Jorge Martin (2nd, Prima Pramac Racing) and Francesco Bagnaia (3rd, Ducati Lenovo Team). The grip and consistency provided by Michelin's Power Slick range at Philip Island played a part in the establishment of two new records, including the shortest race-duration for the circuit which was bettered by 46 seconds, an average of 1.7s per lap! Read on for more about what happened in Australia.
Marquez started from second on the grid but completed the first of the race's 27 laps in sixth place when his helmet visor tear-off got caught in his rear wheel. The Spaniard then posted a string of competitive laps, however, aided by the performance of his hard and front MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, the combination chosen by all the riders. He even bettered the previous race-lap record – which had been his property since 2013 – several times and ended up shaving 0.34s off that benchmark with a 1m27.765s on Lap 9.
By Lap 5, he was sitting in third spot behind Martin and Bagnaia. Seven laps later, he was second and putting pressure on Martin. The Gresini star made an initial attempt to take control with three laps remaining and eventually found a way past next time around before claiming his third victory of the season by a margin of one second. It was the fastest Australian GP in history – a whole 46 seconds quicker than the previous record established (by Marquez) in 2015.
The combination of second place in the grand prix and victory in Saturday's sprint race saw pole-winner Martin extend his championship lead to 20 points over Bagnaia who was third in Sunday's showpiece.
Once again, the Australian fixture was marked by unsettled weather. Free Practice 1 was canceled due to a downpour and FP2 took place on a dry track. It was wet again for the third session on Saturday morning, but Qualifying and the two races were held in dry, albeit chilly conditions.
As a result of this mix, the riders got to run Michelin's complete slick and rain tire range which provided them with the confidence they needed to push over the three days. They all opted for the hard front and soft rear for the grand prix which saw six of them improve on the previous race-lap record. The pace of Marquez, Martin and Bagnaia in particular was such, however, that their times were regularly close to the best efforts posted in Qualifying.
With three rounds still to come, Martin is now 20 points clear of Bagnaia in the provisional Riders' standings, with Marquez a further 59 points adrift.
Next round: PT Grand Prix of Thailand, Chang International Circuit (October 25-27).