MotoGP Australia: Honda motorcycle wins with Marquez

Roberto Magni By Foto ReD Photographic Agency - Marquez unmatched to make it five in a row with Phillip Island last-lap thriller
Marc Marquez made history in Australia as he became Honda´s most successful rider after clinching his 55th premier class win at the end of an incredible Australian GP.
Sunday in Australia got off to a solid start for Marc Marquez as he lined up on the front row for the eighth straight year at Phillip Island. The World Champion found himself in the heart of an incredible nine-rider battle during the opening laps as the field fought for early position. With perfect precision, Marquez carved his way forward to join Cal Crutchlow and Maverick Viñales at the front.

Lap ten saw the race enter its second stage, Viñales trying to break away from the chasing pack. But both Marquez and Crutchlow responded with low 1´29s to keep Viñales within just a few tenths. Lapping consistently in the 1´29s, the eight-time World Champion stalked Viñales and used the RC213V´s superior top speed to blast into the lead on the last lap and eventually cross the line for an 11th win in 2019. The victory is Marquez´s 55th in the premier class and makes him Honda´s most successful rider as he moves ahead of Mick Doohan´s 1998 record of 54 wins. Now only Valentino Rossi (89) and Giacomo Agostini (68) have more premier class victories to their names. Marquez has now achieved five-straight premier class wins for the first time since 2014 and continues his run of 14 straight top-two finishes intact. As a result of the win, the Repsol Honda Team are just a single point behind the Ducati Team in the Team Championship as Honda aim to complete the coveted triple crown.

Cal Crutchlow claimed second position after a superb ride at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. The LCR Honda CASTROL rider profited from a last-lap fall by Maverick Vinales to climb on to the second step of the rostrum behind world champion Marc Marquez, his first podium finish since the German Grand Prix in July. On a busy day at Phillip Island, the Briton started from the second row having taken sixth position on the grid in the morning´s delayed qualifying session. Crutchlow then headed the field in the early stages of the race before settling into a good rhythm on his own in third behind the leading duo of Vinales and Marquez. The result was the Briton´s third podium of the season and erased the painful memories of his injury at the Australian venue last year.

It was a dream Sunday for Pramac Racing, writing an extraordinary page in the history of the team, at the Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix with a fantastic result. The team scored a podium finish by Jack Miller and the best race of the season for Francesco Bagnaia who finished in 4th. Jack, who started from P9 and Pecco from P15 were among the great protagonists at Phillip Island thanks to an exciting progression that allowed them to recover many positions, especially in the second half of the race. In the last two laps the Pramac Racing´s duo won the fight with Dovizioso and Mir, then a crash from Vinales in the last lap allowed Jack to claim a podium and Pecco to take a sumptuous 4th place, just 0.55s from his teammate.

P1 - Marc Marquez “It has been a crazy weekend with the weather and everything. Maverick was very fast today, but I was able to follow him and start slowly cooking the victory. Viñales started to push very hard and very fast at the front, but I knew that if I could stay with him for four or five laps then the victory was possible. The Repsol Honda Team have done a great job with the limited track time we have had. We had to gamble a little bit with the soft rear tyre and it was on the limit in the end, but we were able to win! It´s really special to take this 55th win with Honda, I feel incredible with the Honda family and I´m excited to enjoy this moment with them and the team.“

P2 - Cal Crutchlow “I knew coming into today that I had the pace to be on the podium, no matter what from Friday´s free practice. We´ve worked hard for this, three podiums in the year is always good, it´s unfortunate that Maverick fell off, but we were still on the podium and we have to be happy with our pace today. I didn´t have the grip or the bike under me to be able to go with Marc (Marquez) or Maverick (Vinales) so I had a big gap behind and was happy with my pace. The last five laps I had to manage my rear tyre and I was just riding home and then it started raining on the final lap! I´m really, really pleased to get a podium here in Australia after what happened last year, at one point I didn´t think I was coming back. I want to thank Honda and my crew who did a great job building me a bike capable of being on the podium today. The whole LCR CASTROL team deserved this today. We know we got lucky with second place, because Maverick deserved to be on the podium, but it´s great to be up on the podium with my mate Jack [Miller]“.

P3 - Jack Miller It is an extraordinary result and I am very happy for the team that has done a great job. It is clear that the Vinales crash allowed me to get on the podium but this cannot cancel the satisfaction for a great race. The duel with Pecco was exciting and gave me extra motivation. Getting the podium in front of my family, my friends and my fans is a great feeling.

GP of Australia - Race Classification:

1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 40'43.729
2. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +11.413
3. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +14.499
4. Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing +14.554
5. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +14.817
6. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +15.280
7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +15.294
8. Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +15.841
9. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +16.032
10. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +16.590
11. Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT +24.145
12. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +26.654
13. Johann ZARCO LCR Honda IDEMITSU +26.758
14. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +44.912
15. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +44.968
16. Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team +1'06.045
Not Classified
12 Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
82 Mika KALLIO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
53 Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing Ducati
Not Finished 1st Lap
20 Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT
9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati Team

MotoGP World Championship Standings:

1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 375
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 240
3. Alex RINS Suzuki 183
4. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 176
5. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 169
6. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 163
7. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 153
8. Jack MILLER Ducati 141
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 133
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 105
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 89
12. Joan MIR Suzuki 77
13. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 74
14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 53
15. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 50
16. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 43
17. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 33
18. Johann ZARCO KTM 30
19. Jorge LORENZO Honda 23
20. Tito RABAT Ducati 18
21. Stefan BRADL Honda 16
22. Michele PIRRO Ducati 9
23. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM 8
24. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki 7
25. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 7
26. Mika KALLIO KTM 2
27. Bradley SMITH Aprilia