MotoGP Maverick Vinales Wins Australian Motorcycle Grand Phillip Island

Roberto Magni By Foto ReD Photographic Agency - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Maverick Viñales crowned his consistently strong efforts at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix with a superb win. Phillip Island (Australia), 28th October 2018

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team are celebrating at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit today, as they have returned to the top step of the podium with Maverick Viñales taking a stunning win.
VIñales didn´t have the start he had hoped for from second on the front row and slotted into tenth position after the first corners. At the end of the first lap he started to climb his way back up the ranking order, and on lap 3 he moved into eighth position. He remained there for a while, but was looking comfortable.

Drama happened with 21 laps to go, when Johann Zarco and Marc Márquez collided. Unaffected by the incident, the Factory Yamaha rider used the moment to launch his attack. He smoothly fought his way through the rider field to take the lead on lap 8. From that moment on he did exactly as he predicted yesterday: he put his head down, lapping 1´29s laps, to break away at the front.

Towards the end of the race the Spaniard had a comfortable advantage of over 4s, allowing him to have a bit of a breather over the last five laps. He didn´t put a foot wrong and secured a fantastic victory, with a 1.543s margin over his closest rival. Today's results see Rossi hold third position in the championship standings with a 15-point gap to second. Viñales remains in fourth place, and thanks to his splendid win he currently has a 15-point gap to his teammate. Yamaha holds third place in the Constructor Championship after the race in Australia, with a 44-point margin to second, while the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team remain in second position in the team standings, with now a 16-point gap to first.

Following a successful Friday and Saturday at Phillip Island in Australia, expectations were high for the 17th round of the championship. In Sunday morning´s Warm-Up session Andrea Iannone stamped his authority once again by setting the fastest time, with Alex Rins close by in 6th. As the complex 27 lap race got underway in chilly but bright conditions, Iannone and Rins opted for the medium-hard tyre combination. Both riders got great starts and immediately slotted into the lead group, with Iannone setting the fastest lap on only lap 3. Andrea Iannone was in the fight for top spot and was very close to a huge incident between Zarco and Marquez, however, the Italian kept his focus and continued to push until the end, despite a couple of small mistakes. With 5 laps to go he made his move into 2nd place and proceeded to resist all challenges to achieve an excellent 2nd place, his best result with Suzuki. These strong finishes from the team-mates sees them both close up in the championship standings, giving extra motivation for the final two races.

Andrea Dovizioso scored an important podium at the Phillip Island circuit today thanks to a third place finish in the Australian Grand Prix at the end of an exciting and hard-fought race. The Ducati Team´s Italian rider, who got a great start from row 3, led from the fifth to the seventh lap and after being passed by eventual race winner Viñales, was involved in an exciting scrap with Rossi, Iannone and Bautista. In the last few laps Andrea remained glued to the rider from Vasto´s rear wheel but he was unable to pass him and so he finished his race in a well-deserved third place. Thanks to today´s result Dovizioso has increased his lead over Rossi to 15 points in the Riders´ standings.

Maverick Viñales N° 1 This is the best feeling ever, honestly! We´ve been in the dark all year, and suddenly we came into the light! I couldn´t show my potential in the previous races, but today I could. Being first in Australia is always amazing! It´s the best track ever, and I like to be at the front there. To win here and break this long none winning period of Yamaha is unbelievable! I was riding on the bike like I was in FP4. I got a really good feeling from the bike, so I knew I could maintain 1´29s. That´s what I did for most of the middle of the race. I tried to escape as far as I could, because I knew my tyre wasn´t going to last until the end. I knew opening that gap would be difficult, I had some moments with some riders, and some shaking on the bike ““ I was struggling, but I still made it through anyway. It was amazing! I have to say 'thank you' to the team, because this weekend they worked for the win. We will try to be the best and we´ll try to work in a good way. We don´t want to lose the concentration, because we don´t know what will happen in Malaysia, but for sure the level of motivation will be high after this weekend.

Andrea Iannone “I´m really happy, especially as we were at the top almost all weekend long, and this gives us a lot of positivity. We worked together on improving my feeling with the bike and it meant I was able to finish really close to the top. I felt able to win but it was a hard fight with the others and I was losing ground with them. When I managed to overtake them and keep them behind I realised I couldn´t catch Viñales, so I just tried to defend and manage the tyres. At the end I pushed at 100% to make sure I could get 2nd place.“

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) - 3rd “I´m really satisfied with the way the race went today. Even though we knew we had good speed, managing to get a podium here is another thing. I´m pleased I got myself immediately into an ideal position in the race, because if you start from the third row here at Phillip Island anything can happen, as we saw. Instead with a bit of luck I immediately managed to make up some positions and after a few laps I was first: I never expected that! Then I had a chance to manage the tyres and reach the end of the race in a good state, even though we were all in trouble a bit. I´m very pleased with the work we´ve done here: Phillip Island was a fundamental test to understand our level of competitiveness and now we know we have made a good step forward over last year.“

GP of Australia - Race Classification:
1. Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 40'51.081
2. Andrea IANNONE Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +1.543
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +1.832
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati Team +4.072
5. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +5.017
6. Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +5.132
7. Jack MILLER Alma Pramac Racing +6.756
8. Franco MORBIDELLI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +21.805
9. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +22.904
10. Bradley SMITH Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +22.940
11. Karel ABRAHAM Angel Nieto Team +34.386
12. Danilo PETRUCCI Alma Pramac Racing +35.025
13. Scott REDDING Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +36.348
14. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +36.389
15. Xavier SIMEON Reale Avintia Racing +44.214
16. Thomas LUTHI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +48.226
17. Jordi TORRES Reale Avintia Racing +1'04.965
18. Mike JONES Angel Nieto Team +1'19.817
Not Classified
44 Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Monster Yamaha Tech 3
26 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team
93 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team
5 Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3

GP of Australia - Race Classification:
1. Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 40'51.081
2. Andrea IANNONE Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +1.543
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +1.832
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati Team +4.072
5. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +5.017
6. Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +5.132
7. Jack MILLER Alma Pramac Racing +6.756
8. Franco MORBIDELLI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +21.805
9. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +22.904
10. Bradley SMITH Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +22.940
11. Karel ABRAHAM Angel Nieto Team +34.386
12. Danilo PETRUCCI Alma Pramac Racing +35.025
13. Scott REDDING Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +36.348
14. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +36.389
15. Xavier SIMEON Reale Avintia Racing +44.214
16. Thomas LUTHI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +48.226
17. Jordi TORRES Reale Avintia Racing +1'04.965
18. Mike JONES Angel Nieto Team +1'19.817
Not Classified
44 Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Monster Yamaha Tech 3
26 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team
93 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team
5 Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3