05:08
Start of lap 4, Bezzecchi is pushing hard, he's 1.3s clear of Pedro Acosta. And again he elects not to serve the long lap.
He must now serve the first penalty on the next lap.
2025 Australian MotoGP
2025 Australian MotoGP, Phillip Island: Race reaction - LIVE UPDATES
Live updates from Sunday’s 2025 Australian MotoGP race at Phillip Island.
Can Saturday’s Sprint winner Marco Bezzecchi overcome a double long lap penalty to win the Australian MotoGP?
That’s the big question heading into Sunday’s race, where Bezzecchi needs to serve the penalty for clashing with Marc Marquez in Indonesia.
Bezzecchi - who won the Sprint by 3.149s after catching and passing fellow RS-GP rider Raul Fernandez - will start from the middle of the front row, between Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo (pole) and home hero Jack Miller.
Quartararo made a mistake by choosing the medium front tyre in the Sprint, while Miller came within a fraction of his first Yamaha podium.
But the Frenchman at least knows he must use the hard front for the grand prix and has also indicated he could gamble on making the soft rear tyre last the Grand Prix distance.
Between Bezzecchi and Miller in the Sprint were Fernandez (Trackhouse) and Pedro Acosta (KTM), with VR46's Fabio di Giannantonio the top Ducati in fifth after carving through from tenth on the grid.
Fellow GP25 rider Francesco Bagnaia went in the other direction, plummeting from 11th to 19th, ahead of only stand-in team-mate Michele Pirro.
Bagnaia and Brad Binder (13th) each have a three-place grid penalty for this afternoon, after riding slowly on the racing line and obstructing other riders in qualifying.
Newly crowned champion Marquez, plus fellow former Phillip Island winners Jorge Martin and Maverick Vinales, are all missing this weekend due to injuries.
Marquez is replaced by Ducati test rider Pirro, Martin by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori and Vinales by KTM test rider Pol Espargaro.
The Sunday schedule has been delayed by one hour to try and avoid the worst of the forecast high winds, meaning the grand prix now starts at 3pm local time.
19 Oct 2025
05:09
Bezzecchi serves 1st long lap, Raul Fernandez leads
Bezzecchi serves his 1st long lap, handing the lead to Raul Fernandez and second place to Pedro Acosta.
The Aprilia rider rejoins in third place, ahead of Quartararo. But will lose more ground next time around.
05:08
Crash
Francesco Bagnaia is down in 18th, which becomes 17th when Johann Zarco crashes out.
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05:07
Bezzecchi's tactic is clear: Try to pull as far ahead as possible, then serve the long laps. Had he been held up behind other bikes, he might have decided to serve them earlier but being in the lead makes the decision to delay obvious.
05:06
🚥 LIGHTS OUT in #MotoGP 🚥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 19, 2025
Bez leads @25RaulFernandez! #AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/cQkRDeW4Q1
05:06
Pedro Acosta passes Raul Fernandez for 2nd place at start of lap 3. Bezzecchi is 0.9s ahead and yet to serve his long laps.
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05:05
The official Michelin tyre list confirms all riders hard front, medium rear except Somkiat Chantra (medium front).
05:04
Race leader Bezzecchi is given the official 'double long lap penalty' message at the start of lap 2. He now has 5 laps to serve the penalty.
05:03
Lap 1/27: Marco Bezzecchi, Raul Fernandez, Pedro Acosta, Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller, Alex Marquez, Luca Marini, Pol Espargaro, Fabio di Giannantonio, Fermin Aldeguer.
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05:03
Race start
The red lights go out, Marco Bezzecchi gets his wish of a holeshot, the Yamahas of Fabio Quartararo and Jack Miller lose ground and are passed by Raul Fernandez and Pedro Acosta.
04:58
As a reminder, Bezzecchi must wait for a message from Race Direction telling him to serve the long lap penalties, which is likely to be issued during laps 1 or 2.
Team boss Massimo Rivola says the loss of track position is more damaging than the time, so a good start will be especially crucial for Bez.
However, Rivola - who also played down Bezzecchi's victory chances - added that the opening lap mistake in Indonesia is also on their minds.
04:57
The grid clears and riders prepare to start their warm-up lap, they'll be sure to watch out for seagulls after what happened in the Sprint...
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04:53
On the lookout for rain like 😅👀🌧️ @PeccoBagnaia#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/q3ELtFAPjr
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 19, 2025
04:51
It looks like Fermin Aldeguer (7th) and Michele Pirro (22nd) might also have joined Chantra on the medium front tyre. The official list will be confirmed as the riders start their warm-up lap.
04:50
🚀 @jackmilleraus will surely go full-send from 3rd!#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/12I5BcZz05
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 19, 2025
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04:47
The starting grid
The starting grid, including 3-place grid penalties for Francesco Bagnaia and Brad Binder:
Row 1: Fabio Quartararo (pole), Marco Bezzecchi, Jack Miller
Row 2: Raul Fernandez, Pedro Acosta, Alex Marquez
Row 3: Fermin Aldeguer, Pol Espargaro, Luca Marini
Row 4: Fabio di Giannantonio, Alex Rins, Joan Mir
Row 5: Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, Miguel Oliveira
Row 6: Brad Binder, Franco Morbidelli, Ai Ogura
Row 7: Lorenzo Savadori, Enea Bastianini, Somkiat Chantra
04:45
Fabio Quartararo confirms the consumption of the soft rear tyre was just too high to risk over the full 27-lap grand prix distance.
04:42
So far, every rider has chosen the same hard front and medium rear tyre combination, except rookie Somkiat Chantra, on the medium front.
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04:41
Rain risk?
The wind has dropped, but KTM's Aki Ajo says the risk of rain is the big talking point on the grid.
04:41
Either side of Bezzecchi are the Yamahas of Fabio Quartararo (pole) and home hero Jack Miller.
Both will feel confident of a podium challenge, with Quartararo certain to run the hard front tyre - after yesterday's medium front mistake - while Miller was only denied a Sprint rostrum by a fraction to Pedro Acosta on Saturday.
Quartararo had suggested he would gamble on the soft rear for the grand prix, but he's gone for the medium - like all the other riders - so far on the grid.
04:38
At the front of the grid, all eyes will be on Sprint winner Marco Bezzecchi, who will try to pull off his first MotoGP double victory despite having to serve 2 long laps.
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04:32
Ducati's "funny" set-up led to Bagnaia warm-up disaster
Good morning and welcome to the build-up for the 2025 Australian MotoGP.
Let's get straight into Francesco Bagnaia's nightmare, +32s behind in the Sprint and then last - 13 seconds off the pace - in warm-up, on a bike that was shaking violently down the main straight.
Team manager Davide Tardozzi tells Dorna's Jack Appleyard: "We do not have an explanation, or we would have found the problem and solved it.
"We tried something this morning that didn't work, and now we are back in a different set-up.
"This morning we made some funny set-up to try to understand. But we are back in a quite normal [set-up] situation and will see how it works.
"This shaking on the front is not understood from our engineers, but we are trying to help him.
"Mentally, it's a very hard situation for Pecco.
"We are trying to manage it on his side in the best way, but it's not easy. We trust Pecco. He showed his potential in Japan.
"Going from first to last is something that never happens."
