2013 Phillip Island MotoGP | Results

2013 Australian Grand Prix MotoGP Results

Spoiler Alert: 2013 MotoGP results from Phillip Island, Australia, listed below

With three rounds remaining, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez had the opportunity to clinch the MotoGP title this weekend at Phillip Island.

Heading into the Australian Grand Prix, the 20-year-old rookie had a 39-point lead over his rival, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo. All Marquez needed was a 51-point advantage following Phillip Island, which means he needed to win, and Lorenzo had to finish third or lower.

But the two-time MotoGP Champion Lorenzo wasted no time, and began lapping under the circuit record en route to leading all free practice sessions. He then put in a spectacular performance during qualifying, though was slowed a bit by clipping a seagull, and was able to take the pole position by 0.221 of a second ahead of Marquez.

Lorenzo now had all the incentive needed. Then, in a twist never observed in World Championship racing, Dorna announced that the race would be shortened from 27 to 19 laps due to heavy tire degradation on the repaved circuit. Also, all riders must pit on the ninth or 10th lap, and every rider must use a hard Bridgestone tire option.

This pre-determined pit had a significant outcome on Phillip Island MotoGP – Marquez missed his window, entering the pits on lap 11. Due to not following protocol, he was black flagged, and disqualified from the race, receiving no points for the Australian Grand Prix.

This occurred while he was running in the lead for the first time of the race. Bad luck for Marquez turned into good luck for Lorenzo – the man who led every other lap of the race.

This allowed Lorenzo to clinch his sixth win of 2013 MotoGP, and 50th of his career. Joining Lorenzo on the Phillip Island podium was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who finished 6.936 seconds back, and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi, who finished 12.344 seconds behind.

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 MotoGP) says: “I’m really happy with this win, we’ve also been lucky because Marc made this mistake. Without that he would have been second or first because he was really fast today. So we’ve been lucky but we were unlucky in the middle of the championship so today is a balance.

“When I was entering the first corner Marc was exiting the pit at exactly the same time, the situation was almost impossible to avoid. I was braking a little later to open the line and I don’t think he was looking so much entering the corner so it was both our fault. Now we have options, if Marc keeps constant on the podium then it is impossible to win the championship but there are a lot of laps to go so anything could happen.

“It’s unbelievable to have 50 Grand Prix victories at 26years old. It seems like only yesterday when I won in Brazil in 2003 but it’s been ten years. I’m very proud of it and hope to win some more in the future!”

When the shortened race began, the pole-man Lorenzo took the holeshot ahead of Marquez, Pedrosa Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith, and Rossi.  Marquez immediately attacked at the hairpin, taking the lead for a brief moment. But Lorenzo regained the lead at the run into Siberia.

By mid lap, Rossi got through on Smith, who was followed by GO&FUN Honda Greisini’s Alvaro Bautista and Smith’s teammate Crutchlow. On the second lap, Bautista got through on Smith. Next, Crutchlow passed his Smith.

Up front, Lorenzo, Marquez and Pedrosa were running in a group together ahead of the second group, which was lead by Rossi. Up front, the first man to pit would be Pedrosa on lap nine; many others would follow Pedrosa’s decision.

Lorenzo would pit at the end of the 10th lap, and many expected an in-pit duel with Marquez. But due to a mistake by Marquez and his team, he didn’t come in on lap 10. Instead, the young Spaniard pitted on lap 11.

Marquez switched bikes, and as he headed back out, he touched with Lorenzo, nearly causing an accident. But just after setting the fastest lap of the race with five laps to go, Marquez was black flagged, giving Lorenzo an easy go towards the checkered flag. Another rider that made the same mistake as Marquez was the Australian Bryan Staring, the GO&FUN Honda Gresini pilot also disqualified.

Due to the black flag, Marquez received no points at Phillip Island. He later discussed the black flag.

Marc Marquez (Respol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: “Today was our first experience of a Flag-to-Flag race, and suffice to say it wasn’t a good one. My team and I had set out a strategy and we thought that we could come in after lap 10, but in reality this counts as an extra lap. We hadn’t had that in mind and this was a huge mistake. We had everything well planned and I followed the instructions on my pit board. You learn from these things though, so now we have to move on and focus on the race in Japan.”

Lorenzo took the win, and became the first rider other than Casey Stoner to win at Phillip Island since 2006. Pedrosa would take an easy second, though he was penalized for breaking the 60 kmh speed limit on pit road.

Behind, though, the battle for third came down to some tight racing between Rossi, Crutchlow and Bautista. As light rain began to fall, Rossi was able to hold off the others to take the final podium position. Since joining the premier MotoGP class in 2000, Rossi has only finished off the Phillip Island podium a mere three times.

Crutchlow would take fourth, 0.116 of a second behind Rossi, and Bautista would take fifth,  0.053 of a second behind Crutchlow.

Smith finished sixth, and the top 10 was rounded out by Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden, Energy T.I. Pramac Ducati’s Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, and Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet.

As for the Frenchman de Puniet, this was the first time of 2013 MotoGP he took top CRT honors. And though de Puniet’s teammate Aleix Espargaro finished 11th, he clinched the top CRT point finisher with two rounds remaining.

Though disqualified, Marquez continues to lead Lorenzo by 18 points. Pedrosa’s second-place finish kept his championship hopes alive; he trails by 34 points as he chases his title in the premier class. With two points remaining, the only riders who have a mathematical chance of capturing the title are Marquez, Lorenzo and Pedrosa.

The 2013 MotoGP Championship now heads directly to the Motegi Twin Ring for the penultimate round, and the final race in three grueling back-to-back weekends.

2013 Phillip Island MotoGP Results:

2013 MotoGP Championship Point Standings (after 16 of 18 rounds):