Phillip Island, Australia: MotoGP Post-Race Report
Cal Crutchlow was a supreme star today on the island winning the 2016 Australian Grand Prix. He did a sublime job onboard the LCR Honda MotoGP bike after Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead, 9 laps in. The error was on Marquez's back after he was pushing hard out front putting his tyres to good use and making his mark at the Australian circuit. Unfortunately, an error at turn 4 threw Marquez to the ground and his bike went flying! Within seconds Marquez knew what had happened and his dreams of being crowned victor once again in Australia were over. Crutchlow was aware at this point via his pit board that Marquez was out and that he needed to stay super focused. However, memories of the previous years came to mind. Crutchlow was thinking of two years ago when he dropped the bike with a 10 second lead. The mental challenge was huge and with Rossi chipping away at his lap times. There was a glimpse of light for Rossi, however, Rossi was not fast enough to catch the Honda rider. It was a master class by Crutchlow.
The LCR Honda rider said a few races back that he wanted to win the Australian event and he has done just that. Crutchlow was followed by Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales on the podium. The Yamaha rider and x9 World Champion had a thought that maybe he could charge for victory and then realised the gap was too large. Vinales on the other hand did well to handle the pressure put on him by Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Dovizioso. It was a sad end to Aleix’s race after he was also a victim to turn 4 whilst Dovi finished in the top five after being a little slower though fast on the straights.
The rest of the field battled with Australian rider Jack Miller and although he didn’t have the greatest of Aussie GP’s he did everything he could to stay on top of the points. Miller battled with passion and did the job he had to which was finishing strong for the Australian fans. Jack is already looking forward to the next race at Sepang where the heat will test the entire physical sense of being for the riders in the Moto2, Moto3 and MotoGP paddocks.
In the other classes we had carnage in Moto3 and a championship shaken up once again in Moto2. Tom Luthi bagged the win at the island followed by Franco Morbidelli and Sandro Cortese. It was an important victory after Alex Rins crashed out once again and Zarco finished in twelfth position. There is an opportunity for Luthi to take on the French rider and possibly win the title. Everything is up for grabs at Malaysia and Valencia.
On the other hand we had chaos in the Moto3 race with a very gut wrenching accident that left John McPhee in loads of pain and also Enea Bastianini holding his chest after being run over by Jorge Navarro who could not avoid the Italian rider. The incident happened so quickly, the red flags being flown immediately. The race restarted with only 10 laps and Brad Binder took off into the distance. Bnder feels as though his brother’s fourth place finish was more of a victorious feeling than winning today. This is true sportsmanship and an amazing relationship between the two siblings. Darryn Binder just missed out on a podium finish with the gaps +9.594 and +9.642 between him and Aron Canet.
Overall, it was an adventure and adrenaline filled weekend at Phillip Island with rain, hail, wind and sunshine. Next up is Malaysia! The heat, rain and thunderstorms are guaranteed to throw a spanner in the works!
