Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) defeated Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) in the MotoGP Australian GP race at Phillip Island, which reduced the potential points loss for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
During the post-race press conference, the Italian was asked whether he believed Márquez had done him a favor by preventing Martín from winning. Bagnaia replied:
– I think he wanted to win. The winning possibility at this race was much higher for him, because Jorge was really strong yesterday. It’s true that he missed the start again, but his pace was much stronger, and finally he won. But I don’t think he was thinking about 2015.
In 2015, also at Phillip Island, Márquez won in front of Jorge Lorenzo, who at the time was battling Valentino Rossi for the championship. There were comments back then about whether Márquez had unintentionally helped Rossi in the title fight by beating Lorenzo.