MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 17 / OCTOBER 26-28, 2018
PHILLIP ISLAND / PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
P66
his teammate Augusto Fernan-
dez threatening to make it a
team one-two.
But Baldassarri fell after run-
ning out of road at the Turn 10
hairpin, and with two laps to go
Binder reassumed control.
Even then it was close. A slide
on the last fast corners gave
2017 Moto3 champion Joan Mir
(EG-VDS Kalex) his chance for a
last-ditch slip-stream attach, fall-
ing short by a minuscule 0.036
as that earlier race, but it wasn't
far off, with a battling lead group
still eight strong at half distance.
By then, the South African
Red Bull KTM rider had led from
laps three to 11, but was unable
to escape. He decided to wait
for the finale.
Most of the leading after that
was done by Spaniard Xavi
Vierge (Dynavolt Kalex), with
Pons HP40 Kalex rider Lorenzo
Baldassarri having a stab, and
the manufacturers champion-
ship, with 50 still available; while
a zero score allowed Movistar
Yamaha to close to within 16
points in the Teams champion-
ship, with 90 still on the table.
Moto2
Moto2 reminded former Moto3
Champion Brad Binder of his
days in the smaller class, after
he powered to his third win of
the year. It wasn't quite as close
Happy days for Vinales (center). Dovi (right) was pleased to be on the podium
at a venue he finished 13th at last year.
