Bezzecchi beat fellow Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez on the satellite Trackhouse bike by three seconds, converting a second place start into victory.
The Italian is at long odds to win Sunday’s feature race as he’ll have to serve a double long lap penalty for the crash that took Ducati’s Marc Marquez out of the Grand Prix of Indonesia.
His sprint win came despite hitting a seagull on the warm-up lap. A wing from one seagull was left wedged in the front fairing of the Aprilia RS-GP25.
“When we started for the warm-up lap, they also started their warm-up lap, unfortunately,” said Bezzecchi.
“I hit for sure one because it was on the bike, but I think also one on my head. I don’t know if [there was] another one hit my arm or maybe the same one because they are super big.
“I realised that they are big only when I was very close. Luckily, nothing was broken on the bike, but I was pretty scared because I didn’t really know what to do.
Secure your spot today.
“I didn’t want to brake because I was in front of the group. Maybe I could be hit by someone, so I just tried to protect myself and fortunately it was all okay.”
Bezzecchi said he did not realise there was a wing lodged in his bike until after the race, but noticed something wasn’t right.
“I realised at the end because I felt something on the first laps,” he explained.
“I was struggling a lot with the front tyre. I thought in my head, passing many thoughts, and one of these was maybe I broke a wing in this episode.
“When I crossed the finish line I checked and I saw unfortunately that I had one more [wing]… instead of a broken one.”
“I hit a bird, unfortunately for him, especially.”
Marco Bezzecchi had a few flying obstacles to navigate on the warm-up lap 🪶#MotoGP | #AustralianGP Live on TNT Sports and Discovery+ pic.twitter.com/RiYajzDyIO
— TNT Sports Bikes (@bikesontnt) October 18, 2025
The 13-lap sprint was a frenetic affair from the outset. Sixth place starter Alex Marquez got the holeshot into Doohan Corner ahead of fourth place starter Raul Fernandez.
Bezzecchi, meanwhile, fell to third just ahead of Miller while pole position winner Fabio Quartararo slumped to sixth behind KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
Fernandez made a fast start, passing Marquez out of the Southern Loop and just a few moments later Bezzecchi had stolen second from the Gresini rider at Miller Corner.
KTM rider Brad Binder crashed out of ninth at the Southern Loop on Lap 2.
While Marquez fought to keep Miller and Acosta behind, Fernandez and Bezzecchi stretched their legs at the front of the field.
As Lap 7 began, Marquez, Miller, and Acosta ran three-wide across the start-finish line. Acosta took third, Miller fourth, and Marquez fifth.
Marquez eventually faded to sixth after a late surge from VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio on the leading Ducati.
The decisive moment came on Lap 10 when Bezzecchi blazed by Fernandez at the Southern Loop. From there, he stretched his lead out to three seconds.
Sunday’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix gets underway at 3pm AEDT.
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