Australian Grand Prix, Phillip Island, MotoGP, 2018 Race: Viñales and Yamaha return to victory, Zarco miraculously…

Marc Márquez finds himself in the leading position of this Australian Grand Prix. He now has five poles in a row on this Phillip Island track; feat that Casey Stoner had himself accomplished from 2008 to 2012. in fact, Honda took 12 poles on this track, during the MotoGP era. Its drivers have won there five times so far and two of these successes are by Marc Márquez, in 2015 and 2017. At his side, we find Maverick Vinales who equals his best result of the year in qualifying with a second place, like the one achieved in Austin. The Spaniard, however, started from pole following the sanction imposed on Marc Márquez. Finally, Johann zarco will start third, so this is the first time that we have found two M1s on the front row since Mugello.

The fact remains that the favorite designated by the practice sessions is not in this leading trio. On the other hand, it is a matter ofAndrea Iannone who will lead the second row, as was already the case last season at Phillip Island. This fourth time, recorded in Q2, also constitutes his best result since Mugello.

Before recounting this race, here is a summary table of the results compared between 2017 and 2018 on the Phillip Island circuit in MotoGP:

Phillip Island MotoGP™	2017	2018
FP1	1'29.602 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'29.952 Maverick Viñales
FP2	1'29.225 Aleix Espargaró (see here)	1'29.131 Andrea Iannone
FP3	1'38.522 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'29.714 Marc Márquez
FP4	1'29.541 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'29.604 Andrea Iannone.
Qualification 1	1'29.346 Valentino Rossi (see here)	1'29.851 Álvaro Bautista
Qualification 2	1'28.386 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'29.199 Marc Márquez
Warm-up	1'39.085 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'29.254 Andrea Iannone
Course	Marquez, Rossi, Vinales (see here)
All time lap record	1'27.899 Jorge Lorenzo 2013

Otherwise, here's what's happened in Australia so far...

13° in the air and 35° on the dry track will be the conditions for the 27 laps of the race. Márquez is in medium hard, Casa Particular in Viñales in soft hard and zarco in full software. Iannone is in medium hard like Dovi et Red.

Márquez rushes first with already Iannone in its wake. But Petrucci wants to lead and gets out in turn 2.

Miller takes the lead while zarco slips ninth. Márquez takes your head back and it's Dovizioso which takes its aspiration at the start of the second round. Casa Particular in Viñales is ninth. Red fifth in front zarco. He has one of the best rhythms of the leading men with Iannone which makes a reference 1'30.657. Dovizioso responds and clocks a 1'30.129.

The Ducati official takes the lead after four laps. Casa Particular in Viñales et Kidneys touch each other. zarco is determined as ever and places himself fourth in front of Iannone and behind Márquez, Miller and Dovi.

But at the start of the fifth round, zarco hits the back of Márquez at full speed before the start of turn 1. The Honda official changed lines at the last moment and his rear tire took the front of the Yamaha Tech3. The World Champion returns to the pits, his Honda suffered from contact.

It is abandonment for Márquez. zarco is unharmed. During this incident, Casa Particular in Viñales went up like a missile and there he is in the lead in front Red et Dovi ! Casa Particular in Viñales even set the first time under 1'30. He takes off. There he is, one second ahead...

Behind, Baptist impresses and takes fourth place Dovizioso with the other official Ducat! After 10 rounds, Casa Particular in Viñales rolls isolated, in front Red Iannone et Dovizioso who can't let go Baptist. Pedrosa crash at turn 4 and ends the HRC weekend. Syahrin is eighth, behind Kidneys et Miller, but in front Smith, brothers I will espargaro et Morbidely.

Iannone makes a mistake at turn 4 and restarts fifth but with a delay of three seconds on Casa Particular in Viñales which is two seconds ahead of Red. Behind the Yamaha duo, it is Baptist who leads the chase with the Ducati… Something never seen since Le Mans 2014 for the Spaniard. Dovizioso, behind, sees red...

Eleven laps from the goal, Casa Particular in Viñales holds his position three seconds ahead of Dovizioso et Baptist in the middle of battle, while Iannone ahead Red.

Syahrin fell at turn 4 when he had a good chance to play in the beginners' classification. There are no more Yamaha Tech3s in the race… With eight laps to go, Casa Particular in Viñales four seconds ahead. His choice of soft hard tires seems to be paying off. He is able to stop the drought of 25 races without a victory for Yamaha. behind, the rest of the podium is far from being frozen between Dovi, Baptist, Iannone, Red et Kidneys...

With five rounds to go, Iannone positions himself second in front of the two official Ducatis. Kidneys pass Red for the top 5. But with three rounds to go, Casa Particular in Viñales loses a whole second on the Suzuki of Joe the Maniac who sounds the charge...

But it will be too late. Casa Particular in Viñales and Yamaha regain victory. Iannone et Dovizioso complete the podium. Baptist, Kidneys et Red follow. Miller, Morbidely, Aleix Espargaró et Smith complete the top 10.

Australian Grand Prix, Phillip Island, MotoGP Race: classification.