ishing 11th; Bagnaia was a fairly
close but definitely despondent
12th.
Ahead of them, European
champion Jesko Raffin (SAG
Kalex) had got past and broken
free for eighth. Marcel Schrot-
ter (Dynavolt Kalex) was ninth,
narrowly ahead of Fabio Quar-
tararo (Speed Up). Schrotter
had started from the back after
stalling on the dummy grid.
Australian home star Gard-
ner slipped off at half distance.
Jorge Navarro (Federal Oils
Kalex) and Andrea Locatelli (Ital-
trans Kalex) also crashed out.
American Joe Roberts (NTS)
was 18th.
Bagnaia still leads by 36
points from Oliveira; Binder rein-
forced his third overall, 41 points
clear of Baldassarri.
Moto3
Cross the line within a second of
the winner and you might usually
think you'd be on the podium. In
Australia's breathtaking opening
Moto3 race, you were only just
in the points. The top 14 were
over the line in 0.959 of a sec-
ond. There might have been 15,
had Philipp Oettl not been batted
wide on the first corner.
It had been a matter of slip-
streaming and elbows, art and
aggression throughout. And of
wildly changing fortunes.
For example, points leader
Jorge Martin's Del Conca Honda
led over the line on lap 17, but as
they piled into the first super-fast
Doohan Corner he had dropped
to eighth.
It was like that from first lap
to last, with the Hondas gener-
ally gaining time through the
corners, and the KTMs taking
it all back on the run down the
straight.
Eventually, Angel Nieto KTM
rider Albert Arenas took his
second win of the year, at the
head of a top 14 covered by a
second, and by inches. Almost
VOL. 55 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 30, 2018 P69
With Mir a close second,
Vierge held Fernandez off for
third, less than a second behind;
Marini recovered from a late slip
to save fifth from Aegerter, with
Marquez closing again at the
finish.
But what of championship ri-
vals Oliveira and Pecco Bagnaia
(SKY VR46 Kalex)? They were
nowhere near the sharp end.
Oliveira saved just one point, fin-
