MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 17 / OCTOBER 26-28, 2018
PHILLIP ISLAND / PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
P62
strong eighth with nine laps to
go, Franco Morbidelli (EG-VDS
Honda) took the place and valu-
able points, top Honda finisher,
after getting back ahead of Aleix
Espargaro (Aprilia) on the final
lap. Bradley Smith (Red Bull
KTM) was right behind, to com-
plete the top ten.
Karel Abraham was a season-
best 11th, proving a point in a
one-race outing on Bautista's
Desmosedici GP17 instead of
his two-year-old bike. He was
all but caught by Petrucci at
the end. Just over a second
behind, Scott Redding (Aprilia)
got ahead of Takaaki Nakagami
(LCR Idemitsu Honda) on the
again, and frustrated by their
speed on the straight. This trig-
gered a repeat of his Turn-Four
mistake, then a couple of laps
later a spectacular pass on Dovi
round the Hayshed corner. Now
he was up to second, and took
a full second out of Vinales' lead
next time around. But it was too
little too late, and he was left to
fend off a furious last-lap assault
by Dovizioso.
In their wake, Bautista took a
safe fourth; Rins passed Rossi
for fifth on the last lap, with Miller
a close sixth.
With independent-rider-prize
rival Hafizh Syahrin (Monster
Yamaha) crashing out of a
and next time around Dovizioso
as well to take a lead he would
hold to the finish.
Rossi held second for a while,
but it was all very close. Then
Iannone made a big mistake
braking for Turn Four, dropping
behind the factory Ducatis, who
were changing places, Bautista
for a while ahead of Dovi.
Both would soon pass Rossi,
and by lap 17 Iannone did so as
well. By now Rins was ahead of
Miller, and pulling the pair back
into touch.
Iannone had been widely
tipped as pre-race favorite, and
on lap 20 he was back between
the Ducatis, Dovi now in front
Andrea Dovi (04) had his
hands full with temporary
teammate Alvaro
Bautista, who put in a
stirring ride.
