Maverick Vinales breaks win drought for Yamaha

Movistar Yamaha close in on Repsol Honda in Teams Title

The drought is over. 25 races since their last win – taken by Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) at the TT Circuit Assen last season – Yamaha were back on the top step at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix as Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) brought an end to their losing streak in imperious style.

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“What a thrilling and dramatic race! Maverick is always strong at the Phillip Island circuit, and he once again outdid himself in Australia today. He really deserved the victory, because he had been strong the entire weekend. It‘s a great feeling for the team to secure a win again – we have all been working so hard for this. It‘s not just us who have been waiting, but also our fans, so this is as much for them as it is for us. It was a pity that Vale wasn‘t able to join the podium, because he was showing great potential for the majority of the race. It would have been great to have him up there too. He and his crew have also been pushing to the maximum, but sixth place was really the best he could do today due to tyre wear at the end of the race. Overall this weekend has been a great moral boost, because both riders were competitive, so we‘re all looking forward to the next round, the Grand Prix of Malaysia, in just a week‘s time.”

---

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team are celebrating at Phillip Island as they returned to the top step of the podium with Maverick Viñales taking a stunning win. Valentino Rossi was also a strong contender in today‘s Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, eventually crossing the line in sixth place as he struggled with tyre wear. 

VIñales didn‘t have the start he had hoped for from second on the front row and slotted into tenth position after the first corners. At the end of the first lap he started to climb his way back up the ranking order, and on lap 3 he moved into eighth position. He remained there for a while, but was looking comfortable.

Drama happened with 21 laps to go, when Johann Zarco and Marc Márquez collided. Unaffected by the incident, the Factory Yamaha rider used the moment to launch his attack. He smoothly fought his way through the rider field to take the lead on lap 8. From that moment on he did exactly as he predicted yesterday: he put his head down, lapping 1‘29s laps, to break away at the front.

Towards the end of the race the Spaniard had a comfortable advantage of over four-seconds, allowing him to have a bit of a breather over the last five laps. He didn‘t put a foot wrong and secured a fantastic victory, with a 1.543s margin over his closest rival.

Maverick Vinales

“This is the best feeling ever, honestly! We‘ve been in the dark all year, and suddenly we came into the light! I couldn‘t show my potential in the previous races, but today I could. Being first in Australia is always amazing! It‘s the best track ever, and I like to be at the front there. To win here and break this long none winning period of Yamaha is unbelievable! I was riding on the bike like I was in FP4. I got a really good feeling from the bike, so I knew I could maintain 1‘29s. That‘s what I did for most of the middle of the race. I tried to escape as far as I could, because I knew my tyre wasn‘t going to last until the end. I knew opening that gap would be difficult, I had some moments with some riders, and some shaking on the bike – I was struggling, but I still made it through anyway. It was amazing! I have to say ‘thank you’ to the team, because this weekend they worked for the win. We will try to be the best and we‘ll try to work in a good way. We don‘t want to lose the concentration, because we don‘t know what will happen in Malaysia, but for sure the level of motivation will be high after this weekend.”

---

Rossi was in the fight but faded to sixth

Rossi had a good start from seventh on the grid, gaining a spot on the first lap. He continued to fight in the bunched-up leading group and soon found a way past Álex Rins to take fifth. He was looking to hit the front of the pack early but got involved in a scrap with Zarco and Jack Miller, which moved him back to sixth.

As Zarco and Márquez touched going into turn 1 on lap 6, the fight for the lead heated up. Viñales took the number one spot on lap 8 and the Doctor was keen on following him. He wrestled for a bit with Andrea Dovizioso and initially came out victorious, so he could attempt to follow his teammate in first place, but he couldn‘t quite keep up the challenge.

A fight with Andrea Iannone cost him some valuable time, and with 12 laps to go he got swept up again in a battle consisting of five riders fighting for second place. Rossi was pushed back to fifth but wasn‘t about to give up. With 8 laps to go he made another charge, briefly reclaiming second place, only to find himself in sixth again shortly after. The Italian pushed hard and had another try in the final three laps, but still finished the race in sixth place, 5.132s from his teammate.

Today’s results see Rossi hold third position in the championship standings with a 15-point gap to second. Viñales remains in fourth place, and thanks to his splendid win he currently has a 15-point gap to his teammate.

Valentino Rossi

“Unfortunately from the first lap I already started to slide a bit too much on acceleration. I lost some grip compared to yesterday and this morning. It’s a shame because for sure we wanted to try to do better. I tried to ride smoothly and manage the tyres, but unfortunately after 15 laps I was in trouble, because when exiting left corners I had too much spin. We need to understand why this happened and then try to improve, but having Maverick win a race is good news for the team and Yamaha, because it gives great motivation.”

---

Yamaha holds third place in the Constructor Championship after the race in Australia, with a 44-point margin to second, while the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team remain in second position in the team standings, with now a 16-point gap to first.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action at the Sepang International Circuit next weekend for the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, held from November 2nd – 4th.

2018 Phillip Island MotoGP Results
Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1.	Vinales M.	Movistar Yamaha	40:51.081
2.	Iannone A.	Team Suzuki Ecstar	+1.543
3.	Dovizioso A.	Ducati Team	+1.832
4.	Bautista A.	Ducati Team	+4.072
5.	Rins A.	Team Suzuki Ecstar	+5.017
6.	Rossi V.	Movistar Yamaha	+5.132
7.	Miller J.	Alma Pramac Racing	+6.756
8.	Morbidelli F.	Marc VDS Racing Team	+21.805
9.	Espargaro A.	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	+22.904
10.	Smith B.	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	+22.940
11.	Abraham K.	Angel Nieto Team	+34.386
12.	Petrucci D.	Alma Pramac Racing	+35.025
13.	Redding S.	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	+36.348
14.	Nakagami T.	LCR Honda	+36.389
15.	Simeon X.	Reale Avintia Racing	+44.214
16.	Luthi T.	Marc VDS Racing Team	+48.226
17.	Torres J.	Reale Avintia Racing	+1:04.965
18.	Jones M.	Angel Nieto Team	+1:19.817
DNF	Espargaro P.	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	DNF
DNF	Syahrin H.	Monster Tech 3	DNF
DNF	Pedrosa D.	Repsol Honda	DNF
DNF	Marquez M.	Repsol Honda	DNF
DNF	Zarco J.	Monster Tech 3	DNF

MotoGP Championship Points

2018 MotoGP Championship Standings
Pos	Rider	Team	Points
1.	Marquez Marc	Repsol Honda Team	296
2.	Dovizioso Andrea	Ducati Team	210
3.	Rossi Valentino	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	195
4.	Vinales Maverick	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	180
5.	Crutchlow Cal	LCR Honda	148
6.	Petrucci Danilo	Alma Pramac Racing	137
7.	Zarco Johann	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	133
8.	Iannone Andrea	Team Suzuki Ecstar	133
9.	Lorenzo Jorge	Ducati Team	130
10.	Rins Alex	Team Suzuki Ecstar	129
11.	Bautista Alvaro	Angel Nieto Team	96
12.	Pedrosa Dani	Repsol Honda Team	95
13.	Miller Jack	Alma Pramac Racing	83
14.	Morbidelli Franco	Marc VDS Racing Team	46
15.	Espargaro Aleix	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	39
16.	Rabat Tito	Reale Avintia Racing	35
17.	Espargaro Pol	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	35
18.	Syahrin Hafizh	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	34
19.	Smith Bradley	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	29
20.	Nakagami Takaaki	LCR Honda	21
21.	Redding Scott	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	15
22.	Abraham Karel	Angel Nieto Team	10
23.	Kallio Mika	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	6
24.	Nakasuga Katsuyuki	Yamaha Factory Team	2
25.	Simeon Xavier	Reale Avintia Racing	1
26.	Pirro Michele	Ducati Team	1
27.	Luthi Thomas	Marc VDS Racing Team	0
28.	Bradl Stefan	Honda Racing Corporation	0
29.	Torres Jordi	MV Agusta Reparto Corse	0
30.	Jones Mike	Reale Avintia Racing	0
31.	Guintoli Sylvain	Pata Yamaha Official WSBK Team	0
32.	Ponsson Christophe	Ponsson C.	0

2018 MotoGP Team Points
Pos	Team	Points
1.	Repsol Honda Team	391
2.	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	375
3.	Ducati Team	353
4.	Suzuki MotoGP	262
5.	Alma Pramac Racing	220
6.	LCR Honda	169
7.	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	167
8.	Angel Nieto Team	93
9.	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	64
10.	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	54
11.	Estrella Galicia 0,0	46
12.	Reale Avintia Racing	36

2018 MotoGP Constructors Championship
Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Honda	339
2	Ducati	300
3	Yamaha	256
4	Suzuki	193
5	KTM	55
6	Aprilia	49

Source: MCNews.com.au