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The Moto3 championship was decided in a classic Phillip Island tussle while the Moto2 title lead changed hands in dramatic fashion.
Moto3
GasGas Aspar rider Izan Guevara has sealed the Moto3 world championship at Phillip Island with two rounds to go with a nail-biting win.
Guevara took the lead on the final lap to cross the line ahead of Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and team-mate and championship rival Sergio Garcia to take the title.
Garcia jumped to second in the riders’ championship while GasGas also claimed the team’s championships at the Island, with nearest competitor’s Leopard Racing’s Tatsuki Suzuki crashing at Miller Corner.
Guevara came into the Australian round with a 49-point advantage over the other Leopard Honda rider, Dennis Foggia, who finished the race in ninth, and 56 over the third-placed Garcia.
The Spaniard has now increased his lead to 65 points with just 50 on offer across the Sepang and Valencia events to come.
The fight for second in the riders’ championship remains alive with just two points separating Garcia and Foggia.
It was a four-way battle in the race between Guevara, Oncu, Garcia, and Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max), with the quartet swapping the lead between them after they checked out from the following pack in the closing stages.
The champion-elect dropped as low as fourth in the stoush but catapulted himself back to the front of the group on the final lap at Doohan Corner and would not be headed again.
His victory and Garcia’s third place also seals the teams’ championship for GasGas Aspar.
Australian pilot Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) recorded his best result in the Moto3 class, coming across the line in eighth.
Moto2
Alonso Lopez didn’t let a Long Lap penalty dent his charge to a dominant win at Phillip Island, while a spill for Augusto Fernandez handed the title lead to Ai Ogura.
Lopez had nearly four seconds in hand at the finish line over Pedro Acosta and Jake Dixon.
Despite finishing in 11th, Honda Team Asia’s Ogura has jumped to the lead of the championship as Fernandez slid out of contention.
Lopez dashed ahead of the field at the start, stretching out his lead to over two seconds as the rider was notified to deviate for the Long Lap penalty, which was punishment for contact which caused Celestino Vietti to crash in practice.
The Speed Up rider served the penalty on Lap 4 and kept his lead with a healthy buffer of a second over Aldeguer.
Yellows were shown to the field as they came around on the fifth lap at Siberia as Jorge Navarro sat on the grass after a clash with Simone Corsi.
Navarro had fallen at the exit of Miller Corner and was then struck by Corsi’s bike as he slid across the track, but is reported to be conscious.
Marc VDS Racing’s Tony Arbolino crashed out of the chase for the lead on Lap 8, losing the front into the Hayshed and sliding with speed across the gravel.
It was then on to the arguing KTM pair of Acosta and Fernandez to chase down Lopez at the halfway point.
With 10 laps to go, the championship leader coming into Australia, Fernandez, lost the frontend in the Southern Loop, crashing out of the podium hunt.
Acosta was given clear air then to chase Lopez, though there was a three-second gap between first and second; it was a further three seconds back to Dixon in third.
It was that order that they came across the line at the chequered flag.
Both classes will be in action in Sepang alongside MotoGP from October 21-23.
