Worth the wait!

Qualifying:

Marc Marquez was back with his incredible skills at saving his Honda from crashing, once again during the qualifying.

It was Jorge Martin (Ducati) who pipped him to the post to take his 3^rd pole this season and an all-time lap record (1:27.767), with Marquez following closely behind him. Finishing the front row was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and the other championship contenders Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro behind him, in 5^th and 6^th.

If qualifying was anything to go by, we were going to be in for a treat on Sunday.

Race:

Rain had poured during the night, but it was glorious sunshine that greeted everyone at Phillip Island in the morning. This race had been 3 years of anticipation and audiences were excited to see what was in store:

Lining up on the grid Bagnaia appeared to have trouble with his start device, he just about managed to sort the issue before lights went out. When the lights went green, it was Martin who led Marquez and Espargaro into turn 1. Bagnaia went backwards to 4^th place but by turn 2 he was up to 3^rd, passing one of his championship contenders.

Home-Hero, Jack Miller (Ducati) started to carve his way through the pack and on lap 2 of 27 he had made his way up to 6^th, passing Alex Marquez (Honda) and Luca Marini (Ducati) in the process. His championship hopes weren’t quite done with yet.

Marini fought back on ‘Miller Corner’ (having been named after Jack during the weekend). Miller soon took the place back though, knowing he couldn’t let the championship leaders get away. By lap 3 he had managed to also pass Espargaro to sit behind his teammate. Would team orders come into play?

The answer is no – Miller passed Pecco to take 3^rd a lap later. But Pecco was having none of it and fought back.

Meanwhile, behind them Quartararo lost another place to Marini but seconds later Fabio made a mistake and was forced to go onto the grass verge, entering back into the race in 22^nd place, behind his teammate Franco Morbidelli.

While this was all happening Alex Rins (Suzuki) had taken fastest lap and was up into 7^th place behind Marini. He soon passed him to take 6^th. Rins was seemingly on a charge. Not content with his new spot, he soon took another one, this time from Espargaro in 5^th. Could he make it to the podium?

With 22 laps still to go Martin led Marquez and Bagnaia.

All eyes were on Suzuki-man Rins as he caught Miller by surprise, claiming his spot too (for 4th) and on lap 8 he also passed Bagnaia for 3^rd. Could he manage to conserve his tyres to make it to the end of the race after pushing so hard? Only time would tell.

Miller seemed to be in the wars as Espargaro passed him for 5th (and took fastest lap), on lap 9. Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) also managed to push Miller back to 7^th. Alex Marquez tried his luck too but instead he hit Miller from behind, narrowly avoiding hitting Marini as well, sending them both into the gravel, on ‘Miller Corner’ ending both their races early. (It was later confirmed that A. Marquez would get a long-lap penalty next round for ‘riding in an overly aggressive manner’).

Back at the front of the race Rins and Bagnaia had a tussle for 3^rd with Bagnaia being the victor this time round.

By lap 10 Fabio had made it up into the points positions (15th) but on the next lap on turn 2 he made a mistake and crashed out of the race, taking zero points at Phillip Island. Has the dream for a second championship gone?

On the same lap Rins managed to pass Bagnaia and Marquez. Martin then led Rins, Marquez and Bagnaia into lap 12.

Rins was clearly up for fighting for the win and on lap 14 he saw his opportunity to get into the prime position, taking 1^st from ‘The Martinator’ smoothly. While positions were being swapped behind him – Bagnaia passed Marquez and Martin and then Marquez also passed Martin – he had gone from 1^st to 4^th in only 2 turns.

Marquez was the only rider though to have taken a gamble with a soft rear tyre. Would the gamble pay off?

Martin soon lost yet another place, this time to Bezzecchi and in-front of him Bagnaia had had enough of watching Rins and had taken the lead. On the next corner Marquez also followed suit and passed Rins.

With 13 laps to go Bagnaia led Marquez, Rins and Bezzecchi. How much more drama could there possibly be? If crowds weren’t on the edge of their seats already, they soon would be:

Just 11 laps until the end and Rins seizes his opportunity to pass Marquez for 2^nd and Martin passes Bezzecchi back. Blink and you would miss the action!

Martin had found his second wind and managed to also pass Marquez for 3^rd but lap 19 Marquez got his spot back and brought Bezzecchi with him, who managed to also claim a position from Martin, pushing him back to 5^th. On the next lap a battle commenced between Bezzecchi, Marquez and Martin. Bezzecchi managed to claim Marquez’s spot and Martin also passed him, but Marquez fought Martin off to keep 4^th. While back at the front Rins had managed to claim first position.

With only 8 laps to go Rins now led Bagnaia, Bezzecchi and Marquez.

So much action on track, no-one knew where to look!

Yet there was still more to come:

Bagnaia powered past Rins on the start-finish straight to re-take the lead and to start lap 21. Rins then got swallowed up by both Bezzecchi and Marquez to go back to 4^th. The same thing that had happened to Martin moments ago.

With 6 laps to go Rins and Marquez fought for 3^rd but it ended with Marquez going wide and Martin passing through, sending Marquez back to 5^th. Could he still put up a fight with his soft rear tyre? If there was an issue with the soft tyre Marquez was ignoring it as he soon passed Martin back for 4^th.

Bezzecchi seemed to be in trouble with Rins, with 3 laps until the end on turn 2 Rins managed to make his pass stick and was soon hunting down Bagnaia again. Meanwhile Marquez had also passed Marco to take 3^rd. Marquez wasn’t letting Rins get away – they tussled for 2^nd place, but Rins won.

Last lap:

Bagnaia led Rins, Marquez and Bezzecchi over the line but Rins passed Bagnaia shortly after and Marquez followed him. Could Marquez make the pass to snatch victory?

No, he couldn’t – Alex Rins took the chequered flag for a fairytale win for Suzuki. Followed closely by Marquez and Bagnaia.

Top Ten Finishers:

1st	A. Rins
2nd	M. Marquez
3rd	F. Bagnaia
4th	M. Bezzecchi
5th	E. Bastianini
6th	L. Marini
7th	J. Martin
8th	J. Zarco
9th	A. Espargaro
10th	B. Binder

It was such a close race between the top ten racers. But it was all about celebration: Rins became the 7^th different winner this year, Marquez took his 100^th premier class victory and Bezzecchi became Rookie of the Year!

Top Four in Championship:

1st	F. Bagnaia	233 points
2nd	F. Quartararo	219 points
3rd	A. Espargaro	206 points
4th	E. Bastianini	191 points

We have certainly missed Phillip Island these past 3 years – but wasn’t it worth the wait?!

 

 

(Featured image: courtesy of: Moto GP website).