MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow Wins Australia GP; Rossi Finishes 2nd

MotoGP continues to be at its unpredictable best this year, as Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda)stormed towards the chequered flag in the Australian Grand Prix at Philip Island. The Brit marked his second win this year, and did so with Valentino Rossi finishing second and Maverick Vinales nagging the third position on the podium. Things weren't as exciting Marc Marquez with a crash end his run prematurely.

Having just won the 2016 MotoGP World Champion title. Marquez gained a comfortable lead early on with aon pole. However, his run was cut short as he crashed on turn 4 in Lap 10. Crutchlow, who was following Marquez, moved to P1 from thereon and won the race by a comfortable lead of 4.2 seconds.

(Valentino Rossi rode fantastically to come up from 15th position to 2nd position)

Meanwhile, Rossi, who had the probably the worst qualifying in this decade, started at the back of the grid, but literally carved his way through the race making it P2 in just 10 laps. The Italian passed the likes of Jorge Lorenzo, Pol Espargaro, and Andrea Dovizioso behind as he charged into the podium spots. He passed Aleix Espargaro, who was at P3, just as Marquez went down, which meant the Yamaha rider moved to P2 behind Crutchlow. But Crutchlow's pace proved to be too much for the world champion.

Alternately, things were heating up in the battle for third place, especially in the second half of the race. Pol Espargaro and Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati were fighting for P3 as Suzuki's Vinales followed both at P5. But to Espargaro's misfortune, he crashed on Lap 23, and Vinales used this to his benefit to mover up on th e leader board. The Suzuki Ecstar overtook Dovizioso in the closing stages of the race, taking the podium spot.

(Marc Marquez crashed out after qualifying on pole position)

Jorge Lorenzo had a terrible weekend and was frankly not even in contention. The Spaniard finished at P6, scoring some crucial points, as he still aims to take the second spot in rider standings while competing with teammate Rossi.

Scott Redding and Bradley Smith finished seventh and eighth respectively, while Hector Barbera crashed just before the last 3 laps. The crash however, pushed Danilo Petrucci into ninth, while Jack Miller finished at P10.

Also making a one-off return to MotoGP was Nicky Hayden at Philip Island. The Honda WSBK rider was standing in for the injured Dani Pedrosa and put an impressive show early on as he battled in the top 10 space. The Kentucky rider looked well in pace, until an over enthusiastic turn by Miller cut short his run, forcing Hayden to retire early.