REPORT – 2017 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Every year, Phillip Island turns on something special for its round of MotoGP. This year was no exception, with weather playing a factor, some surprises in qualifying, as well as more than a few surprises on the track come race day.
State of Play
The MotoGP circus came to Australia, the sixteenth round of the 2017 championship, with the premier class title fight down to just two riders. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Vinales and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa were both mathematical possibilities, but in reality, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez or Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso were the only realistic chances to win this year’s MotoGP championship, Marquez holding an 11-point lead over Dovzioso.
Both contenders were considered strong possibilities for the race win, along with Vinales and the tearaway rookie of season 2017; Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3).
Of course, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) loves Phillip Island almost as much as the Island fans love him, so he couldn’t be ruled out, either.
In Moto2, Italy’s Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex) has been the star of the field this season, but has had veteran Swiss rider Thomas Luthi (CarXpert Interwetten Kalex) as his shadow. While Morbidelli had won eight races, DNFs and other poor results meant he came to Phillip Island with a lead of only 20 points over Luthi.
Moto3 had the potential to crown a champion at Phillip Island in Joan Mir (Leopard Racing Honda). Simply outstanding in his second full season in the class, the 20-year-old Spaniard had won eight races leading up to the Australian round, and was 55 points ahead of next best Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers Honda). Should Mir win or come second at Phillip Island, the 2017 Moto3 World Champion would be his with two rounds remaining.
The crowd had Aussies to cheer for in every class, with Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) back in action for this round after missing Motegi with a fractured leg. Miller would be joined by Broc Parkes, who was filling in for the ill Jonas Folger at Monster Yamaha Tech3 and throwing his leg over a MotoGP for the first time since a similar fill-in role at Valencia in 2015.
In Moto2, Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing Tech 3) was the sole Aussie entrant, while in Moto3, Tom Toparis and his Cube Racing KTM squad scored a wildcard entry; the second for the 17-year-old following his Moto3 debut in the preceding round at Motegi.
Finally, Michelin used the Australian round to confirm their initial three-year contract as tyre supplier for the championship had been extended another five years to 2023.
Practice and Qualifying
With rain forecast for both Saturday and Sunday, a hot lap on Friday could prove crucial, which may explain why Marquez was a bolter in Free Practice 1 (FP1), but at the end of the opening day, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was on top.
After being as high as third, Miller finished sixth fastest on Friday, while Parkes was 23rd. Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) crashed heavily in Saturday’s FP3, injuring his right ankle, which hampered his progress through the rest of the race weekend.
MotoGP’s Qualifying 1 session – the ‘best of the rest’ – saw Rossi and Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM) progress through to Q2, where Marquez secured his fourth successive Phillip Island pole position with a 1’28.386 lap. Alongside him on the front row of the grid was Vinales and Zarco.
Miller seemed to be feeling no ill effects from his fractured leg, powering his satellite Honda to fifth; his best qualifying result of the season. Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Pol Espargaro completed the second row, while Rossi would start from seventh alongside Aleix Espargaro and Smith.
Last year’s race winner, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) crashed in Q2 and would grid up in tenth, while Dovizioso didn’t do his championship challenge any good with a crash in FP4 followed by a poor qualifying performance that put him in eleventh on the grid.
Parkes, who admitted he was more a passenger than a rider on the Tech 3 satellite Yamaha in the FP sessions, managed to master the beast a little by the end of qualifying to start from 21st on the grid.
One note to come out of the qualifying session’s press conference was the MotoGP riders’ call for an earlier race start. Marquez and others voiced concerns that the 4:00PM start is too late, as temperatures drop rapidly late in the day, negatively impacting the tyre performance.
In Moto2, Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was uncatchable on Friday, easily leading both FP sessions in cold but dry conditions ahead of veteran Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Kalex) and Dominic Aegerter (Kiefer Racing KTM). Gardner’s day started badly with a crash at turn 9 in FP1.
Moto 2’s qualifying session saw Pasini secure his fifth pole in 2017 with a 1’33.300 lap. Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completed the front row, while Morbidelli and Luthi qualified fifth and tenth respectively. After a strong FP3 performance, Gardner qualified in 16th.
Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) made the fastest start in Moto3 Free Practice, but champion-in-waiting Mir was the quickest in FP2 to top the day’s combined times.
Toparis missed FP1 entirely, then ran only a handful of laps in FP2 for a best of 30th, but at least gained some valuable data.
Moto3 qualifying saw Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) score his eighth pole position of the season with a 1’37.020, ahead of Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Racing KTM) and Mir on the front row. Mir’s main rival Fenati would start from the middle of row 2, while Toparis was the final qualifier in 31st.
Race Day
As forecast, rain arrived on Sunday, marring all three morning warm-up sessions and producing a number of crashes, including a heavy highside for Luthi that left him with an injured shoulder.
By the time the Moto3 race started at 1:00PM, the sun was out, the track was mostly dry and the official race day crowd of 36,200 was ready for action.
Moto3 – Champion Performance
Rodrigo got the holeshot at the start, but his RBA BOE Racing team mate Juanfran Guevara led the field by the end of the opening lap, which saw John McPhee (British Talent Team Honda) and Darryn Binder (Platinum Bay Real Estate KTM) crash, but the latter was able to remount and continue.
Mir was in the midst of a pack of eight riders at the front that, in typical Moto3 style, were continually slipstreaming each other down Gardner Straight, so riders could lose or gain half a dozen places in the space of a single lap.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) was part of this pack before a heavy highside crash on lap 5, with Toparis going off track on the same lap, but rejoining, as did Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda).
A lap later, Mir slipstreamed his way to the lead, while Jules Danilo (Marinella Rivacold Snipers Honda) crashed. Mir and Guevara then appeared to open up a small gap on the field, but both came back to the pack on lap 7, when Rodrigo set the fastest lap of the race.
When Guevara crashed after leading the field through lap 9, it eased the pressure – albeit only slightly – on Mir, who was still in the midst of a pack of more than half a dozen riders that included title rival Fenati.
Mir regained the race lead on lap 12 when Marcos Ramirez (Platinum Bay Real Estate KTM) slid out of the race at turn 1, but with less than a second covering the top seven riders, the win was still anyone’s, including Fenati’s.
Despite the leading group stretching and contracting as the laps wound down, Mir seemed to have the advantage, but when rain hit the track, it was almost a disaster for the Spaniard.
Leading the field at the start of lap 16, Mir crashed at turn 1, seemingly ending his race and championship hopes, but the rain came with enough force for the race to be red-flagged. As such, the last completed lap – 15 - would be classified as the race result, which meant Mir was both the race winner and Moto3 World Champion.
Amidst jubilant scenes on the cool-down lap, the Leopard Racing team adorned Mir’s bike with a #1 plate, while team mate Livio Loi’s second place was additional cause for celebration.
“This is unbelievable, I have no words,” Mir said after the win.
“It’s been my dream over a number of years to achieve this, and it’s amazing. I’m world champion – it’s incredible to say.”
The Phillip Island win was Mir’s ninth this year – the most of any rider in a single season in Moto3 history. Polesitter Martin was third, followed by early leader Rodrigo, while Fenati was sixth. Toparis finished 22nd out of 24 finishers.
MOTO3 RACE – result (15 laps)
1. Joan MIR (SPA) Honda 24’51.490
2. Livio LOI (BEL) Honda +0.351
3. Jorge MARTIN (SPA) Honda +0.359
4. Gabriel RODRIGO (ARG) KTM +0.388
5. Enea BASTIANINI (ITA) Honda +0.408
6. Romano FENATI (ITA) Honda +0.808
7. Ayumu SASAKI (JPN) Honda +0.834
8. Adam NORRODIN (MAL) Honda +1.291
9. Tatsuki SUZUKI (JPN) Honda +3.648
10. Lorenzo DALLA PORTA (ITA) Mahindra +4.005
22. Tom TOPARIS (AUS) KTM +1 lap
MOTO3 Championship Standings – after 16 of 18 rounds
1. Mir – 296 points (2017 champion), 2. Fenati – 226, 3. Canet – 184, 4. Martin – 151, 5. Di Giannantonio – 146, 6. Bastianini – 114, 7. McPhee – 112, 8. Migno – 108, 9. Ramirez – 107, 10. Oettl – 104.
Moto2 – Orange Effect
With the threat of more rain to come, the Moto2 race got underway with Luthi behind the eight ball before the race even due to his warm-up injury.
When the lights went out, polesitter Pasini was swamped, as Oliveira, Morbidelli and Moto2 rookie Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took a stranglehold on the front of the field.
Pasini would be out of the race on lap 2 when he was collected by a crashing Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP Suter) at turn 2. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0Marc VDS Kalex) almost joined them on the retirement list when he had a massive tank slapper coming out of turn 11 on the same lap.
Within a handful of laps, it was obvious Oliveira was having the race of his life and was simply uncatchable at the front, so attention turned to the battle between Binder and Morbidelli. In the early laps, neither rider could seem to gain breathing space ahead of the other, which continued through to the middle part of the race.
Luthi, meanwhile, had improved to sixth off the start and managed to stay with the leading trio early, but struggling with his shoulder injury, began to fall back by mid-race, first into the clutches of Nakagami, then Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing Tech 3) and Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten Kalex).
Midway through the race, when Morbidelli touched Binder and ran wide at turn 1, it allowed Nakagami to close and threaten for a podium. By lap 16, the Japanese rider was within striking distance, then in third place three laps later.
Further back and just outside the points in sixteenth place, Gardner was having a solid run against Fabio Quartararo (Pons HP40 Kalex) and Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia).
With Oliveira’s lead out to almost six seconds in the closing stages, what seemed a straightforward win proved less so when patchy rain started appearing on the circuit then started to increase in intensity in the final three laps. The rain may have been a factor in Nakagami crashing out of second place on the penultimate lap, but the race would be over before a red flag was called for.
Tiptoeing through the final laps, Oliveira’s winning margin was less than three seconds at the chequered flag, but it was a win nevertheless and history-making for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was Oliveira’s first race win in Moto2, as well as KTM’s first in the category. Binder’s second place was his first ever Moto2 podium and also KTM’s first 1-2 result. In spite of the wet conditions, Binder set the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap.
“I’m really happy, and I couldn’t be more grateful for this win,” said Oliveira. “I had a huge lead when the rain came. I was too cautious and I stressed a little bit and it was the longest race of my life. It’s my first victory in the category and the first for KTM – and not the last hopefully.”
Away for the KTM celebrations, Morbidelli’s third place meant he extended his points lead to 29 over Luthi, who struggled to a tenth-place finish. Morbidelli now needs to score only 17 points over the next two races to win the championship.
Gardner passed Syahrin on the penultimate lap to finish 15th and gain the last championship point for the race, bringing his total to 23.
MOTO2 RACE – result (25 laps)
1. Miguel OLIVEIRA (POR) KTM 39’25.920
2. Brad BINDER (RSA) KTM +2.974
3. Franco MORBIDELLI (ITA) Kalex +3.846
4. Jesko RAFFIN (SWI) Kalex +7.348
5. Xavi VIERGE (SPA) Tech 3 +7.403
6. Alex MARQUEZ (SPA) Kalex +12.125
7. Simone CORSI (ITA) SpeedUp +12.217
8. Dominique AEGERTER (SWI) Suter +12.244
9. Sandro CORTESE (GER) Suter +12.475
10. Thomas LUTHI (SWI) Kalex +12.605
15. Remy GARDNER (AUS) Tech 3 +34.678
MOTO2 Championship Standings – after 16 of 18 rounds
1. Morbidelli – 272 points, 2. Luthi – 243, 3. Oliveira – 191, 4. Marquez – 190, 5. Bagnaia – 150, 6. Pasini – 135, 7. Nakagami – 128, 8. Corsi – 105, 9. Vierge – 90, 10. Binder – 89.
MotoGP – You sure that wasn’t Moto3?
What would be the most keenly contested race this year and arguably one of the best multi-rider battles seen in MotoGP in the past five years, the premier class got underway under sunny skies and a track clear of damp patches.
Marquez secured the holeshot, but the crowd roared when Miller took the lead at turn 2, then held it for the opening four laps. Rossi also had the crowd on their feet when he was up to third on lap 3 from seventh on the grid.
Unbeknown to Marquez, his championship pressures eased when Dovizioso ran wide at turn 1 on lap 2, then had to fight his way back from virtually the rear of the field.
On lap 5, a mistake from Miller allowed both Rossi and Vinales to scream past him down Gardner Straight, Rossi holding the lead for the next three laps before Zarco started to muscle in on the frontrunners.
In a race where overtakes were in abundance, Phillip Island’s turn 4 was the place to be, as numerous passes were made at the tight right-hander, most of which were executed successfully, albeit with some clashing of fairings and tyre marks left on leathers!
When Rossi ran wide into turn 4 on lap 9, he allowed Zarco and Marquez through. Miller then put himself back into a podium position a lap later, taking third from Rossi.
With no frontrunner able to put a gap on the field, the tension was building into the second half of the race when first Rossi, then Zarco led the freight train of up to seven riders. Vinales was back in the mix by this stage, too, passing Miller, then Marquez by lap 16, when the latter failed to make a move stick at turn 10.
Iannone was having his best race of the season, trailing the leading foursome of Vinales, Marquez, Rossi and Zarco and even passing Marquez briefly.
With eight laps to go, Rossi and Marquez appeared to touch, leaving a tyre mark down Rossi’s leathers; one of several battle scars carried by the leading riders in the tough contest.
With eight laps to go, Marquez decided to attack, passing Vinales at turn 4 to take the lead on lap 21, while Rossi taking second from his team mate at turn 10 on the same lap.
In a race marked by bold passing moves, Zarco made the boldest on lap 22 when he passed Vinales on the outside of turn 1. On the same lap, a collision from Vinales and Iannone sent the Spaniard to the back of the lead group, and almost out of the race.
With Marquez now enjoying a small lead at the front, Rossi ran wide at turn 4 with three laps remaining, allowing both Zarco and Iannone through, but the Italian veteran would retake second place a lap later.
After his early race heroics, Miller had exhausted his tyres by the final half dozen laps and would drop back to seventh and more than five seconds off the lead when Marquez greeted the chequered flag for his sixth race win of 2017. Rossi and Vinales completed the podium, with the latter snatching third from Zarco with another aggressive pass on the final lap.
Almost forgotten throughout the race was Crutchlow, but in the final lap, last year’s race winner was able to get past Iannone for fifth.
“Honestly, it was an amazing race,” Marquez said in the press conference. “It was a big group, like a Moto3 race, and I enjoyed it a lot, but I started to realize that I needed to attack or they will overtake me everywhere.
“(With this) victory I am happy, but I am happier to have 33 points (lead). That makes me smile more.”
That 33-point lead means a fourth championship is surely Marquez’s for the taking and the Spaniard admitted as much when asked: “Now it’s time to breathe, understand our options and don’t be too aggressive. I (took) a lot of risks though the season, but now it’s time to be more patient.”
Speaking about the aggressive riding and high amount of contact throughout the race, second-placed Rossi said: “The level of aggressivity and contact during the race was raised a lot. This is the game - if you want to play, it’s like this. It was a great race and I enjoyed (it) a lot.”
Seeing his championship hopes slip away, Dovizioso wasn’t the only Ducati rider to struggle at Phillip Island, with Scott Redding (OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati) the best finisher in eleventh, while the injured Lorenzo was 15th and Danilo Petrucci (OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati) 21st, just ahead of Parkes.
Conversely, Team Suzuki Ecstar had a second consecutive strong finish, sixth and eighth for Iannone and Alex Rins at Phillip Island, which followed fourth and fifth at Motegi.
The only non-finisher in the race was Aleix Espargaro, who crashed when trying to pass Miller on lap 8, the fall at the fast turn 8 resulting in Espargaro fracturing his left hand.
MOTOGP RACE - result
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 40’49.772
2. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +1.799
3. Maverick VINALES Yamaha +1.826
4. Johann ZARCO Yamaha +1.842
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda +3.845
6. Andrea IANNONE Suzuki +3.871
7. Jack MILLER Honda +5.619
8. Alex RINS Suzuki +12.208
9. Pol ESPARGARO KTM +16.251
10. Bradley SMITH KTM +16.262
22. Broc PARKES Yamaha +57.711
MOTOGP Championship Standings – after 16 of 18 rounds
1. Marquez – 269 points, 2. Dovizioso – 236, 3. Vinales – 219, 4. Rossi – 188, 5. Pedrosa – 174, 6. Zarco – 138, 7. Lorenzo – 117, 8. Petrucci – 111, 9. Crutchlow – 103, 10. Folger – 84. (12. Miller - 65).
