Aleix Espargaro, on a day that
could have paid a few more divi-
dends, faded to ninth place, with
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Fac-
tory Racing) rounding out the top
10 after earlier having charged
as far forward as seventh.
Bagnaia now leads by a size-
able 14 points ahead of Quar-
tararo. Aleix Espargaro is now
27 back and Bastianini is the
last contender after Miller's 0,
with the Italian facing a 42-point
deficit with two to go.
MOTO2
Alonso Lopez dominated the
Moto2 race at Phillip Island de-
spite having to serve a long lap
penalty. The Beta Tools Speed
big way on the drag to the line,
just 0.224 seconds off Rins by
the flag.
Bezzechi's fourth place se-
cures him top Independent Team
rider in the race and Rookie of
the Year for 2022, as he was
left to hold off Bastianini and
did so—just. The "Beast" was
incredibly close by the flag, tak-
ing fifth ahead of Marini. Martin
took seventh after leading early
on from pole, and he completes
the stat of the top seven finishing
within one second.
Next up came Johann Zarco
(Prima Pramac Racing), who had
a comeback on his hands after
a tough start, but made his way
through to an impressive eighth.
Suzuki rider hit back straight
away at Stoner Corner, and that
was how they commenced lap
27 of 27. Rins went a corner
earlier this time with a move
on Bagnaia for the lead, and
Marquez followed to push Pecco
down to third.
In the end, Rins was unstop-
pable. The Suzuki rider kept the
door closed to the line as Mar-
quez hung in there looking for a
way through, and right behind,
the focus shifted to Bezzecchi.
Would the Italian Ducati rider
and VR46 Academy member
launch a late attack on Bagnaia?
He wouldn't. Bagnaia held them
off to secure another podium
and honed in on Marquez in a
ROUND 18 / OCTOBER 14-16, 2022
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT / PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
P80
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Alonso Lopez ran away
with the Moto2 race
with unerring ease.
