Crutchlow takes Aussie win as Marquez crashes
BRITISH rider Cal Crutchlow held off an extraordinary ride from Valentino Rossi to win the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday, as newly-crowned World Champion Marc Marquez crashed out with 18 laps to go.
Marquez, who clinched his third world title last weekend in Japan, led the race from pole position on his factory Honda and was well clear of Crutchlow when he crashed due to a braking error at turn four of the Philip Island circuit.
That handed the lead to Crutchlow who showed steady nerves to hold out the hard-charging Yamaha of Rossi.
Valentino Rossi had climbed through the field from 15th place on the grid after his worst qualifying performance in five years.
Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales was third after starting in 13th place.
The win gave 30-year-old Honda rider Crutchlow his second MotoGP victory after his win in the Czech Republic earlier this year.
This made him the first Briton since Barry Sheene to win two races in the premier class in the same season.
The rainy conditions which made practice and qualifying tricky on Friday and Saturday gave way to fine but cold weather on Sunday.
The cool track surface made tire choice critical and Crutchlow, starting from second place on the grid, followed Marc Marquez in choosing a hard compound for the front tire.
It was a risky strategy given that partly cloudy conditions mad it difficult to keep heat in the tire. When Marquez went down it was thought that tire choice might have played a part and Crutchlow admitted to a moment of concern.
Marquez dismissed tire choice as a factor in his fall which left him unhurt.
“I braked too late and instead of trying to go a little bit wide I tried to keep the line and I fell,” said Marquez.
Rossi’s ride to claim second allowed him to extend his lead over Jorge Lorenzo in second place on overall championship standings with two rounds remaining.
Earlier, Swiss rider Thomas Luthi won the Moto2 category, and South Africa’s newly-crowned 2016 World Champion Brad Binder (KTM) took a stunning Moto3 win from pole.
Riders head to the Malaysian Sepang circuit for the penultimate round of the season this weekend.
- AP