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It was chaos, feathers, and full throttle at Phillip Island.
But nothing ruffled Marco Bezzecchi’s feathers, as he powered through one of MotoGP’s most bizarre moments — hitting a seagull mid-race — to win the Australian Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday.
The Italian, riding for Aprilia, shrugged off the freak collision to clinch his third sprint victory in the last four races, finishing comfortably ahead of Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez.
Seagull Drama at 300 km/h
Moments before the race began, a flock of seagulls gathered perilously close to the start/finish straight: a common sight at Phillip Island.
As Bezzecchi launched from second on the grid, disaster struck.
“I hit a bird, unfortunately for him, especially.”
Marco Bezzecchi had a few flying obstacles
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“At the beginning, I hit a big bird — unfortunately for him, and also for me, because I got scared,” Bezzecchi admitted with a wry smile after the race.
“Fortunately, nothing broke on the bike. Once we got going, I had a lot of fun.”
The impact briefly lodged the seagull in the front fairing of his Aprilia, but Bezzecchi kept his composure and pace, leading from the front to take a three-second win in a race that left fans — and probably some local wildlife — stunned.
Quartararo’s Record, Marquez’s March
Earlier in the day, Fabio Quartararo looked untouchable, smashing Bezzecchi’s lap record to claim his fifth pole of the season. But the Frenchman couldn’t keep up once the lights went out, finishing behind a dominant Aprilia pairing.
Meanwhile, Alex Marquez quietly extended his lead in the battle for second place in the world championship, finishing sixth to go 92 points clear of Francesco Bagnaia. The younger Marquez now needs to be 111 points ahead by Sunday to lock in the runner-up spot.
Bezzecchi’s triumph comes amid a dramatic few weeks for the Italian — just a fortnight after he collided with Marc Marquez in Indonesia, forcing the world champion to undergo shoulder surgery.
As a result, Bezzecchi will serve a double long-lap penalty in Sunday’s main race.
(with AFP inputs)
