Rins snares classic
Shock Suzuki win at Phillip Island in hard day for Aussies
PHILLIP Island has a rich history of delivering classic races but this undoubted epic just didn’t have the fairytale ending that local fans yearned for.
After a three-year Covidenforced break, MotoGP returned to the island with a surprise triumph for Suzuki’s Alex Rins, seeing off the challenges of Honda’s Marc Marquez and Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia.
In a battle so intense, just 0.884 seconds separated the first seven finishers.
Local hero Jack Miller was sent tumbling off his Ducati on lap 8, the victim of a braking mistake by Alex Marquez who clattered into the Aussie at, of all places, Miller Corner.
The collision means that Miller’s slim championship hopes vanished.
Suzuki’s shock win comes in their third-last race before the manufacturer leaves the MotoGP series at season’s end.
Rins’s fourth win in MotoGP was his first since Aragon on 2020.
“Last time here with the Suzuki is special. It’s amazing to move on with a victory,’’ Rins said.
The results were decisive in terms of the championship fight, Bagnaia jumping into the lead after defending champion Fabio Quartararo crashing his Yamaha on lap 11.
The Ducati star said he was happy to settle for third when he saw that the Frenchman was out. VR46 Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi was fourth to claim the Rookie of the Year title.
MotoGP fans eager for action again came back in their droves, recording the biggest three-day crowd (91,158) since Casey Stoner’s farewell in 2012.
Australian Remy Gardner, who finished 15th on the KTM to pick up a point, said he enjoyed himself on his home track.
Gardner has been dumped by the Tech 3 team after a difficult year on an uncompetitive bike but was happy with his performance.
“I felt strong and was pushing hard and making up places but by about 15th or 16th lap the rear tyre was really flat and it really dropped for us,” he said.
“So we dropped a bunch of positions and a bunch of time.
“The race went really really fast for me because I was having such a good time.’’
The Moto2 race was marred by a scary incident when Spanish rider Jorge Navarro was struck by a bike ridden by Simone Corsi as the riders collided after exiting Miller Corner late in the race.
Navarro, 26, lay on the grass on the edge of the track for some time before he was taken away by medical officials for assessment.
Spaniard Alonso Lopez grabbed victory in Moto2.
And in Moto3, Spanish teenager Izan Guevara secured the world crown with a stunning victory.