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ROUND 16 / OCTOBER 20-22, 2023 PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT / PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP P68 seconds, then 1.7 seconds two laps on. Exiting turn 12 for the penultimate time, the Frenchman was just 0.4 seconds behind. Then an explosive last lap. Martin knew the game was up exiting the Southern Loop and by turn four, he was swarmed. Zarco jammed it up his inside, with Ba - gnaia opportunistically following through. Di Giannantonio breezed by the #89 on the run into the Hayshed. And despite valiantly de- fending into MG, Binder eased by on the run to the line, compound- ing possibly the most significant one minute and 31 seconds of the season to date. Just 0.2 seconds covered the top two, and 1.008 seconds the top five. It took some time to get going, but this was a finale worthy of the location. Seven seconds back, Bezzec - chi rose through to sixth thanks to rapid-fire moves on Aleix Espargaro and Alex Marquez two laps from the flag. Miller followed his lead, also passing both men to take seventh, with Espargaro "embar - rassed" by the Aprilia's lack of trac- "After one lap, the front tire temperature started coming up again, and it started to feel like I had put in a brand-new tire. My confidence [came] back." That was the cue for the chas - ers' resurgence. With Martin 3.3 seconds clear on lap 18, he began struggling to put the power down from lap 20. And Di Giannantonio was honing in. The thing was, both Bagnaia and Zar - co were even faster. The French- man passed the reigning champ for fourth on the run to turn one on lap 21 before Binder found his second wind two laps on, pass- ing Di Giannantonio for second at turn four. By then, Zarco and Bagnaia had closed right in to make this a chasing quartet. Zarco was third by lap 25 before Binder was swarmed by the three Ducatis behind, enter - ing turn four for the penultimate time. Now Zarco led the chase with Bagnaia third, Di Giannan - tonio fourth. And all the time Martin was on the ropes. By lap 24 his lead was down to 2.4 ing his soft rear tire with the requisite care. By lap six, Zarco had passed him for fifth, and soon the Honda man was drop - ping back into the clutches of the second group, headed now by Aleix Espargaro with Miller, Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati), Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Pol Espargaro all in tow. Then came a lull in action as Martin continued to add 10ths of a second to his lead, while Binder, Di Giannantonio and the Bagnaia- Zarco duo edged apart; 3.1 seconds separated the podium men on lap five. Then it was four seconds by lap 12 with Martin enjoying breathing space of 2.9 seconds. Soon Binder was strug - gling, unable to make inroads ahead due to suffering a string of front-end moments through the fi- nal double left. At first, he thought it was due to tire graining; once Di Giannantonio passed on the run to turn one on lap 19, he realized his front tire temperature had been dropping below its usual operating window. in Qatar. "There are factors out- side of the weather that determine when this race is, commercial and all those sorts of reasons," explained Race Director Mike Webb, who indicated they could seek a different date for the 2025 calendar. "But I would say that negotiations will take place with Grand Prix Corporation and Dorna as to whether there's a time slot that's better for us as far as just a chance of good weather." Briefly... Marc Marquez was another victim of tire choices.