MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 16/ OCTOBER 22, 2017
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT / VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
P60
one another, changing places
constantly. Rossi led over the
line from laps five to eight and
14 to 16; Zarco had it from nine
to 13, and again on 17 and 18,
before Vinales took over for two
laps.
But it was all a matter of
inches, and they'd shuffle again
braking into the fast first cor-
ner, sometimes three abreast,
then again around the Southern
Loop, and again into the Turn
Four and Turn 10 hairpins.
On lap 14, just after half
distance, the order was Rossi,
starting Pol Espargaro's Red Bull
KTM briefly ahead of the third
front-row starter Johann Zarco
(Monster Yamaha).
Miller stayed up front for five
laps, Espargaro would drop
back, while his elder brother
Aleix would push his Aprilia
into the big lead gang, only to
fall on lap eight, just after Cal
Crutchlow had gotten ahead on
the LCR Honda.
Now there were eight, and
while Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki)
was merely a close spectator,
the other seven were all over
Dovizioso earned just three
points for 13th, and a title gap
of 11 points opened out again to
33. Even if Dovi wins the next
race in Malaysia, Marquez need
only follow him home.
The leading octet shared in
heroics galore.
To the crowd's delight, Jack
Miller (Marc VDS Honda) led off
the line, surging through from
the second row to lead pole
man Marquez and front-row
companion Vinales on the first
lap, ahead of Rossi, Andrea Ian-
none's Ecstar Suzuki; then fast-
Iannone's (29)
charge through
the field meant he
dropped the KTM's
early in the race.
