ROAD RACE
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 16 / OCTOBER 23, 2016
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT / PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
P64
tonio in the front pack, putting
the Honda rider and erstwhile
third-placed Pecco Bagnaia
(Mahindra) down and out.
The big crash came on lap
six, also in the front gang, as
John McPhee (Peugeot Mahin-
dra) fell as they crested Lukey
Heights, triggering mayhem. He
was hit by Andrea Migno (SKY
VR46) who also fell, and Enea
Bastianini (Gresini Honda) was
sent flying, sliding back across
the track where he was hit by
Jorge Navarro (EG-Honda).
The red flags came out, and
miraculously only McPhee
needed trackside treatment and
removal by ambulance, merciful-
ly only with suspected fractures.
Moto3
Moto3 often surprises by how
few crashes there are in such
close racing. The opposite was
true here: the first attempt was
a crash-fest from the start, with
five riders tangling in the first
corner, Khairul Pawi, Joan Mir,
Livio Loi, Darryn Binder and
Jorge Martin, the last three able
to restart.
Soon afterwards, Aron Canet
(EG Honda) slipped off and re-
mounted, and then front-runner
Nicolo Bulega (SKY-VR46 KTM)
went out after a brush with Leop-
ard KTM's Fabio Quartararo.
Then Joanfran Guevara fell; and
shortly afterward Gabriel Ro-
drigo tapped Fabio Di Giannan-
It looked, and could have been,
a lot worse.
Champion Brad Binder (Red
Bull KTM) had been leading, and
was on pole for the restart for a
10-lap sprint.
He led away, soon easily
outpacing his only close pur-
suer, Andrea Locatelli (Leopard
Honda), while the other 22
surviving riders (out of an original
34) scrambled in a huge gang
behind them.
Martin (Mahindra) led the
group at the midpoint, but
younger brother Darryn Binder
(Platinum Bay Mahindra) was on
inspired form, and managed to
get to the head of it on the final
lap and out of the last corner,
Brad Binder, already the
Moto3 champ, won again in
a Moto3 crash fest.
