Cal Crutchlow had won last year at Phillip Island and, upon arriving in Australia, he proclaimed to anyone who would listen that he would be able to succeed himself. After only three points taken in the last three races, we could doubt this English optimism. Failed qualifying did not give any more confidence in the fate of the LCR driver. And yet, here he is, good fifth in the end. All the more meritorious as the Briton has come a long way…
From very far away even because Crutchlow admits, one hour before the start of hostilities, he strongly doubted his ability to still assume his duties on the RC213V. The cause: his fall during the warm-up. Very violent: I suffered the worst accident there in a long time. I lost the rear of the bike in turn 6. It wasn't very fast, but I was catapulted into the air and got really high. I fell back and my head, back and ribs took the shock. When I returned to the pits, I took the second bike again. But I was really bad. I wasn't feeling well and an hour before departure I didn't know if I was going to be able to drive ».
The solid Englishman still left. And the magic of the race, the beneficial adrenaline did the rest: “ I had problems in the corners, I had to adjust the electronics and I thought it would help me at the end of the race, but with the tire wear, actually, no. The rear tire was overstressed. Heading into the finish, the Yamahas were better but Márquez managed to escape to win. But from where we started, we did a good job ».
« We can be proud of this fifth place. However, if the weather had been better, and if I hadn't fallen during qualifying, I think we could have gone for victory. Overall, the show was superb. Everyone gave what they could. Nobody has anything to complain about. No one knocked the other down. MotoGP put on a great show at Phillip Island ».
#AustralianGP MotoGP J.3: Ranking
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 40'49.772 |
| 2 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +1.799 |
| 3 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | +1.826 |
| 4 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | +1.842 |
| 5 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | +3.845 |
| 6 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | +3.871 |
| 7 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | +5.619 |
| 8 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | +12.208 |
| 9 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | +16.251 |
| 10 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | +16.262 |
| 11 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | +21.652 |
| 12 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | +21.668 |
| 13 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | +21.692 |
| 14 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | +26.110 |
| 15 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | +26.168 |
| 16 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | +26.252 |
| 17 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | +36.377 |
| 18 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | +39.654 |
| 19 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | +40.400 |
| 20 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | +45.901 |
| 21 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | +48.768 |
| 22 | 23 | Broc PARKES | Yamaha | +57.711 |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 20 lapses |
