Valentino Rossi kept a cool head amid chaos to win a drama-filled Tissot Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

The Yamaha rider, who started from eighth on the grid, inherited the lead after Honda’s Marc Marquez crashed with 10 laps remaining, having seemed in control of the race and on his way to victory.

Rossi was occupied in a closely fought battle with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo for the best part of the race before he assumed the lead.

In the end, the nine-time world champion kept his nerve while others encountered dramas to win in what was his 250th premier class grand prix start.

Lorenzo came home in second while Monster Yamaha’s Bradley Smith recorded his maiden podium in third as he took advantage of a fall from Ducati’s Cal Crutchlow on the final lap.

Despite briefly losing the lead at the start, it was Marquez who assumed the advantage on the opening lap from Lorenzo an the fast starting Bradley Smith.

Rossi leapt up into fourth while Honda’s Dani Pedrosa dropped down the order to ninth after an uncharacteristic slow start.

It didn’t take long for Marquez to break way from the field with the newly crowned double world champion moving into a comfortable lead from Lorenzo.

Although the man on a move was Rossi as he jumped into third before applying pressure on Lorenzo in second.

Behind there was yet more drama for Pedrosa with the Spaniard’s miserable weekend coming to an end with a mechanical retirement.

Meanwhile, his opposite number had surged into a 3.5s lead with the Yamaha’s of Rossi and Lorenzo unable to match the pace of the world champion.

However, with the race win all but in the bag, Marquez dropped the bike at the bottom of Lukey Heights throwing the contest wide open.

The Honda man’s demise was the start of a period of incidents which saw Stefan Bradl, Aleix Espargaro and Pol Espargaro all throw away positions inside the top 10.

As the race entered its closing stages, the Ducati of Crutchlow proved to be the quickest bike on the circuit as the Brit surged around Lorenzo to claim second.

But the joy was short-lived with Crutchlow crashing out of a certain podium on the final lap.

There were no such dramas for Rossi who went on to take his second win of the season with team-mate Lorenzo in second.

Tech 3 Yamaha’s Smith emerged in the final podium spot with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso coming home in fourth in front of Hector Barbera and Alvaro Bautista.

Gresini Honda’s Scott Redding was seventh while Hiroshi Aoyama, Alex De Angelis and Nicky Hayden completed the top 10.

Australia’s Broc Parkes endured a difficult homecoming as the Paul Bird Motorsport retired mid-way through the race with a shoulder injury.

The MotoGP world championship heads to Malaysia’s Sepang circuit for the penultimate round of the season next weekend.

MotoGP Australian Grand Prix Results