Australian MotoGP Race Result: Marquez wins, Vinales falls on last lap

Marc Marquez has taken victory in the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island after outfoxing an unlucky Maverick Vinales, who then fell two corners from the chequered flag trying to respond to his rival.

Just as he had done in Misano and Buriram against Fabio Quartararo, Marquez left it until the final opportunity to pass long-time leader Vinales, only unleashing the full power of the Repsol Honda as they crossed the line at the last time of asking to pass.

Giving Vinales – who had started on pole - little chance to react, the Spaniard utilised the Yamaha’s advantage through the bends to try and set up a pass around the outside at Lukey Heights to give him the inside line at the MG right-hander, but lost the rear as the bike went light under braking and barrelled into retirement.

Marc Márquez is a machine!



A thrilling battle between himself and Maverick Viñales on the final lap of the #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/Ye6wSvAhRn

— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) October 27, 2019

A bitter disappointment for the Spaniard, who’d worked his way into the lead on lap nine, before holding off Marquez, it was clear the Repsol Honda rider had been rolling off on the home straight to track him before pouncing when it mattered.

It marks an 11th win of the season for the World Champion, multiplying his advantage to 135 points with two races remaining.

Vinales’ misfortune promoted Cal Crutchlow onto the podium in a Honda 1-2 for his third podium of the year, while Jack Miller sent the home crowd into celebration to collect third place, in so doing becoming the first Australian to podium on local soil since Casey Stoner in 2012.

A stellar race for Pramac Ducati, Pecco Bagnaia scored his best result of the season with a superb run to fourth on the 2018-specification Desmo, while Joan Mir also notched up a PB for Suzuki in fifth place.

With several of the more unfancied runners rising to the fore at Phillip Island, Andrea Iannone picked up his best finish of the season in sixth position on the Aprilia, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi, the latter among the leaders early on before fading in the closing stages to fly the flag for Yamaha on an otherwise tough day.

Indeed, prior to Vinales’ exit, Fabio Quartararo was forced out early on when he was caught up in Danilo Petrucci’s own accident, putting them both into retirement.

Johann Zarco scored points on his LCR Honda debut in a steady 13th, comfortably finishing ahead of factory rider Jorge Lorenzo, who couldn’t make the most of the high attrition rate on the way to 16th.

Australian MotoGP Race Results