Honda’s Marc Marquez fought back to win Australian GP MotoGP from LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow and Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller after crash for Maverick Vinales.
Pole-sitter and Yamaha’s Vinales did not had a good start to Australian MotoGP race at Philip Island as he dropped to sixth with teammate Valentino Rossi moving straight into the lead from LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow and Aprilia’s Andrea Iannone.
Honda’s Marc Marquez dropped back to fourth with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Vinales behind him. Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller was seventh with Suzuki’s Alex Rins eighth, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso ninth and KTM’s Pol Espargaro 10th.
The Top 15 then had LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco 11th, Suzuki’s Joan Mir 12th, Pramac’s Francesco Bagnaia 13th, Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli 14th and Avintia Ducati’s Karel Abraham 15th, with KTM’s Mika Kallio just behind them.
While the fight at the front was fierce, Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci had a high-side at Turn 2 as he then collected Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo, with both retiring immediately. And amazingly, it is only Petrucci’s first DNF of the 2019 MotoGP season.
After a super start, Rossi dropped straight back to sixth as Iannone fought Crutchlow for the lead and took it before the latter came back and re-took it. Marquez and Vinales got back on Iannone as well to be second and third respectively.
Marquez got past Crutchlow to lead as he then dropped behind Vinales, who pushed himself into the top position after passing Marquez. There was a slight touch between the two Honda racers as well which put Crutchlow behind Iannone.
But the British racer got back on him as Iannone started to lose places to be ninth with Rins climbing up to fourth from Rossi, Dovizioso, Miller, Bagnaia. The positions changed hands again with both Rins and Rossi dropping back as Miller took charge.
The Australian moved into fourth after passing Dovizioso, who then lost out to Bagnaia as well. It wasn’t a smooth run for Miller as he dropped behind Bagnaia at one point but came back to slot himself well in fourth ahead of his teammate.
The fight at the front intensified with Marquez getting on the tail of Vinales and eventually passing him on the final lap. The Spaniard stayed with him until midway when his rear went away as he tumbled onto the gravel, easing Marquez’s chances to win.
Unaware of the fall, Marquez pushed on to cross the line and win Australian GP, his 11th of the 2019 MotoGP season and 55th in premier class – going past Mick Doohan. After a lonely ride in third, Crutchlow got second after Vinales’ crash with Miller in third.
The Australian went berserk with a podium in his home grand prix as he fended off teammate Bagnaia to the line, with the two Pramac Ducati flying high with a double Top 4 result. In a crazy turn of events, Suzuki’s Mir jumped up to fifth.
A wide moment from Dovizioso allowed Mir to get through after a late charge to be the lead Suzuki as he registered his best MotoGP result. Likewise, Iannone fought back to be sixth aboard Aprilia – his as well as the manufacturer’s best result of 2019.
After running well midway, Ducati’s Dovizioso dropped back to be only seventh with Yamaha’s Rossi eighth and Suzuki’s Rins ninth. It ended up being a solid result for Aprilia after Espargaro finishing 10th ahead of Petronas Yamaha’s Morbidelli.
KTM’s Espagaro fought back to be 12th with Zarco doing well on his first Honda run in 13th with Avintia’s Abraham ending up 14th and Tech 3 KTM’s Hafizh Syahrin taking the final point in 15th ahead of Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo.
DNF: Vinales, Mika Kallio, Tito Rabat, Quartararo, Petrucci.
