Raul Fernandez scored his maiden victory in the premier class through a dominant display in the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island.
Fernandez completed a commanding performance after taking the lead of the race on Lap 6, becoming the first rider to win a MotoGP race aboard a satellite Aprilia machine.
Marco Bezzecchi made the launch from second on the grid to take the lead of the race into Turn 1.
Satellite Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez also made a good start from the second row of the grid to give the Italian manufacturer
Fabio Quartararo dropped down to fourth from pole position despite a good start aboard the Yamaha, with Pedro Acosta moving into third on the opening lap.
Acosta used the slipstream advantage on the straight to take second from Fernandez, setting up the fight behind the leading Italian.
The Spanish rider ran wide, which allowed the Trackhouse rider to regain second place, gifting a further advantage to Bezzecchi at the front.
Jack Miller crashed out of his home race at Siberia corner, joining Johann Zarco as Lap 3 retirements as the mid-pack battles raged.
Bezzecchi took the first of his two long lap penalties, which saw him exit the loop behind Fernandez and Acosta.
The second long lap saw Bezzecchi demoted to sixth behind the battle between Quartararo and Alex Marquez, just shy of three and a half seconds behind race leader Fernandez.
Marquez used his superior straight-line speed down the Gardner straight to pass Quartararo to move onto the podium in third. Fabio Di Giannantonio also found his way through on the Frenchman to take fourth position.
Bezzecchi was immediately able to pass Quartararo to get back into the top five. The Yamaha was unable to keep the pace and lost further positions to Luca Marini, Fermin Aldeguer and stand-in KTM rider Pol Espargaro.
Quartararo then battled with the Ducati of Francesco Bagnaia for 12th position, with the double World Champion coming out victorious.
However, the Italian exited the race just one lap later after suffering a crash at Turn 6, ending another disappointing weekend.
Marquez then set his sights on Acosta, with the Gresini rider finally getting past at Turn 4 after battling through the opening sector of Lap 16.
The KTM rider looked to have burned through his tyres and fell back into the clutches of Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi, with the VR46 rider making the overtake stick on Lap 20.
Bezzecchi made his move two laps later and pulled away from the KTM rider on the straight to confirm his fourth position.
The Italian then used the momentum to catch up to the back of Alex Marquez, and put in a move on the penultimate lap of the race to salvage a podium finish.
At the front, Fernandez crossed the line to record his first-ever victory in MotoGP, and marked the first win for a satellite Aprilia machine in the premier class.
Di Giannantonio finished the race strongly in second, while Bezzecchi rounded out the podium in third after serving his double long lap penalty.
Marquez struggled with tyre life at the end of the race and came home in fourth, with Acosta also having difficulties with his Michelins in fifth.
Marini finished just behind the ailing Acosta in sixth, while Alex Rins showcased some late race pace to take home seventh.
Brad Binder took eighth over the line, as Enea Bastianini led team-mate Espargaro over the line to complete the top 10.
Quartararo fought to 11th aboard his Yamaha machine ahead of Miguel Oliveira on the satellite M1 in 13th and Ai Ogura in 14th. Franco Morbidelli completed the points finishers in 15th.
Lorenzo Savadori finished the race in 16th, while Somkiat Chantra outdragged Michele Pirro to the line as the pair completed the points finishers in 17th and 18th.
Joan Mir suffered a crash midway through the race and joined Bagnaia, Miller and Zarco as the retirements from the Australian Grand Prix.
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