MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 16/ OCTOBER 22, 2017
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT / VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
P56
Tire choice remained a vexed
question, with Marquez, Vinales
and Crutchlow switching to the
soft rear on the grid; Dovizioso
only pretending to do the same.
This left him one of only four on
the medium rear, with Rossi,
Petrucci and Jonas Folger's
Tech3 replacement, Broc
Parkes. Johann Zarco was the
only one on the soft front.
The race was 27 superb laps
of swapping and squabbling,
rubbing and shoving worthy of
a Moto3 brawl, with a group of
eight remaining not just within
touching distance but (as tire
marks and broken bodywork
attested) closer than that.
Only in the closing laps did
Marquez decide that he'd spent
enough time running the risks
while saving his tires, and he
escaped. "Today was really im-
portant. At the start, I wanted to
In a very good year, that is
high praise. With a lead pack of
eight separated by barely a sec-
ond for much of the distance,
and with constant overtaking,
nobody would dispute his as-
sessment.
Good racing is always ex-
pected at the magnificent 2.7-
mile Phillip Island circuit. So,
too, bad weather, and 36,200
race-day fans got plenty of that
after a sodden start, and a
Moto3 race cut short by further
showers—although by then
Joan Mir had done enough to
become the year's first World
Champion.
By a happy quirk the day
turned warm and sunny, and
fears of a tire-teasing tempera-
ture drop, once again, spoil-
ing the late-starting 4:00 p.m.
MotoGP race happily came to
naught.
Jack Miller doused
himself in home glory
for the first four laps,
opening an early lead
but chewing his tires
up in the process.
