Marquez Winner in Australia

Marc Márquez snatched the lead from Jorge Lorenzo on a thrilling last lap to win a classic Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

After a thrilling scrap, the Spanish Honda rider roared home to pull clear of Lorenzo before the final turn and win his first race at Phillip Island and fifth for the season.

The appeal of this Brad Pitt-produced documentary will depend entirely on your interest in watching men leaning over at high speed

Lorenzo’s runner-up finish, 0.249 seconds behind Márquez, closed the gap from championship leader Valentino Rossi to 11 points ahead of the penultimate race in Malaysia next week.

Ducati’s Andrea Iannone completed the podium, holding Rossi out on a glorious day at the seaside circuit.

In the Moto2 category, rookie Alex Rins won his second race of the season for Paginas Amarillas HP40 ahead of Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes and Forward Racing’s Lorenzo Baldassarri.

Miguel Oliveira sealed his fourth win of the season in Moto3 after Leopard Racing’s championship leader Danny Kent was taken out of the race in a crash during lap 14. Efren Vazquez and Brad Binder completed the podium.

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Lorenzo Holds Off Marquez

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Jorge Lorenzo ensured the MotoGP title race will go down to the wire as he won the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of championship leader Marc Marquez at Motegi.

The defending world champion started from pole and held off rookie Marquez for 22 hard-fought laps around the Twin Ring circuit to clinch his second straight victory.

The Yamaha rider took the chequered flag ahead of his Honda rival to trim the gap at the top of the standings to 13 points heading into the final race of the season in Valencia.

Marquez will need to finish no lower than fourth in Spain on November 10 to become the youngest world champion in the 64-year history of MotoGP.

The 20-year-old ended team-mate Dani Pedrosa's slim title hopes as his fellow Spaniard came in third, while Honda's Alvaro Bautista made it an all-Spain top four.

"This track is normally better for them so winning here in Honda's home race is a pleasure," Lorenzo said afterwards.

"It's been a really hard, physical race but I really kept my concentration and I really wanted this victory."

Marquez's eventful first season in MotoGP continued during the morning practice session when he lost control of his bike and slid into the trackside gravel trap.

He was cleared to start the race, but he slipped to third after two corners as Lorenzo got off the line well and Valentino Rossi stormed into second place.

But Rossi missed the braking point at a corner on lap two, allowing Marquez and Pedrosa to slip past, and the Honda pair soon closed the gap on leader Lorenzo.

However, the 26-year-old produced a near-flawless ride to hold off his rivals and clinch his seventh victory of the season, and the 30th of his MotoGP career.

"It was a difficult race for me because of this morning's big crash but also because it was my first time in this track," Marquez said.

"I tried to follow Jorge. In the middle of the race it looked like we were stronger but in the end I saw that Jorge tried to push a little bit more.

"I felt I was too much on the limit and I said 'okay, 20 points for the championship'. Valencia will be another race and very interesting for sure."

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Lorenzo Poles in Japan

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Jorge Lorenzo claimed pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix and will start one place in front of championship leader Marc Marquez for the second week in succession.

The Spaniard clocked a lap of one minute 53.471 seconds to edge his compatriot in an extended session after bad fog saw Friday practice postponed.

Britain's Cal Cutchlow was 11th, his worst grid position of 2013.

Marquez can win the world title if he outscores Lorenzo by eight points.

Lorenzo won in Australia last week to keep his title hopes alive and he maintained his momentum in a 75-minute session at the penultimate event in the season.

The Yamaha rider was quickest early on and then consolidated his fourth pole of the season as conditions dried at the Twin Ring Montegi track.

Ducati's Nicky Hayden earned third and his best grid position of 2013 but was nudged from second when Honda's Marquez found some pace on his final lap.

Marquez, 20, can win the world championship in his debut season this weekend and only he could finish qualifying within a second of Lorenzo as rival riders struggled to keep pace.

Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha's Valentino Rossi are on the second row with the second Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso in sixth, while Cutchlow finished outside the top 10 for the first time since last year's British MotoGP.

With 25 points available for a win, Marquez will become the youngest ever MotoGP World Champion and first rookie title winner for 35 years if he extends his existing 18 point lead to 26.

Results:

1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 01min 53.471secs

2. Marc Marquez (Spa) Honda +0.658 seconds

3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati +1.068

4. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda +1.071

5. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha +1.261

6. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati +1.565

7. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda +1.664

8. Stefan Bradl (Ger) Honda +2.139

9. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Aspar +2.248

10. Yonny Hernandez (Col) Ducati +2.527

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Fog Hits MotoGP Practice

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All of Friday's practice sessions for the Japanese MotoGP have been cancelled because of thick fog.

The Moto2 and Moto3 sessions were also called off at the Twin Ring Motegi.

The decision was made over safety concerns with the circuit medical helicopter unable to fly and the nearest hospital an hour away by road.

Spaniard Marc Marquez, 20, could win the championship this weekend with the rookie having an 18-point lead over Jorge Lorenzo with two races left.

"We are not prepared to run in these conditions when there is a risk that a seriously injured rider could not be given correct care," race director Mike Webb said.

Organisers said a 75-minute free practice session could be scheduled on Saturday afternoon but added that further adverse weather conditions could present problems.

"We expect more heavy rain on Saturday morning, but rain is not the key problem, it is low cloud cover affecting visibility," they wrote on Twitter.

"We are still committed to running this Japanese Grand Prix for all three classes."

Outlining his contingency plans, Webb added: "Nothing is fixed because it depends on the weather, but I'm aiming at 75 minutes for MotoGP and perhaps a little shorter for other classes.

"Taking into account the shortage of daylight at the end of the day, we will just run for as long as possible."

A draft plan has also been made for Sunday of 40 minutes for each qualifying session, although a single, longer practice run rather than two would also be considered.

"The original weather forecast when we arrived here was that the nearby typhoon would be quite close with very strong winds," added Webb.

"However, in place of those strong winds we have had low cloud cover which has been a lot worse (disrupting track action).

"We are still expecting heavy rain tomorrow morning, but rain does not stop the helicopter from flying - that all depends on the visibility."

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Lorenzo Wins Australia

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Jorge Lorenzo's MotoGP world title hopes remain alive after he won a dramatic Australian Grand Prix which saw championship leader Marc Marquez disqualified.

Yamaha's Lorenzo, who started from pole and led throughout, now trails his fellow Spaniard by 18 points going into next week's penultimate race in Japan.

Riders had to change bikes mid-race because of safety concerns over tyres.

But Marquez failed to pit by the required time and scored no points.

After the race, BBC Sport's MotoGP presenter Matt Roberts tweeted that Marquez's Honda team had said it was a pit-board error which led to their rider being disqualified.

Dani Pedrosa was second while Valentino Rossi held off the challenge of Britain's Cal Crutchlow for third.

Lorenzo described the race as "crazy" because of the compulsory bike change but his maximum return of 25 points, coupled with Marquez failing to register, means the title race has been opened up.

"We were lucky," said Lorenzo. "Without the mistake from Marc I think he would have been first or second - now the championship has changed so much.

"Before the race we had no chance - a 2% or 3% chance - and now it's 20% or 30%.

"Let's see what happens in Motegi." [the venue for next Sunday's race in Japan]

After setting the fastest time in qualifying, Lorenzo started well from pole and held off Marquez and Pedrosa in the opening lap before looking very comfortable.

Tyre supplier Bridgestone said before the race that they were unable to guarantee the safety of their rear slick tyres beyond 10 laps because of the newly-resurfaced track at Phillip Island.

As a result, it was decided to shorten the race to 19 laps from 27, with a mid-race pit stop.

Pedrosa was the first of the top three to pit on lap nine, while Lorenzo made his change on the following lap.

However, Marquez stayed out on the track until lap 11 and when he rejoined the race he had a minor clash with Lorenzo for top spot but the race leader retained his advantage.

Marquez's hopes of securing the title in his rookie season then suffered a blow when he was shown the black flag for exceeding the maximum number of laps permitted before having to pit.

Result

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 29 minutes 07.155 seconds

2. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda +6.936 secs

3. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha +12.344

4. Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha +12.460

5. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda +12.513

6. Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha +28.263

7. Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati +32.953

8. Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati +35.062

9. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati +35.104

10. Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia +37.426

Championship standings

1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 298 points

2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 280

3. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 264

4. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 214

5. Cal Crutchlow (Great Britain) Yamaha 179

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Lorenzo Poles Downunder

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Jorge Lorenzo broke the Phillip Island lap record to claim pole for the Australian MotoGP as he fights to keep alive his World Championship defence.

The Yamaha racer, 26, dominated the session with a best lap of one minute 27.899 seconds - 0.221 seconds faster than fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez.

Marquez is 43 points ahead in the standings and will secure the title in his rookie season if he collects eight more points than Lorenzo. 

Briton Cal Crutchlow will start sixth.

Tyre problems - which have seen the Moto2 race shortened to 13 laps - mean that the MotoGP race will have a mandatory pit stop, for the first time in MotoGP history.

Bridgestone tyres say that they are unable to guarantee the safety of their rear slick tyres beyond 14 laps at a Phillip Island circuit which has been resurfaced since last year's race.

Each MotoGP rider will be required to enter the pits and change to his second machine with fresh tyres at the midway point of the 26-lap race, which has been reduced by a lap.

Lorenzo beat Casey Stoner's previous record of 1:28.665, set in 2008, but had to pit to remove a seagull that had lodged in his bike after a collision at the top of Lukey Heights before securing his 28th career MotoGP pole.

"We've done our best to be competitive," he said. "This lap [we did] is a lap you can only do with a PlayStation. Today we made it - we improved seven tenths [of a second] from our first ride here.

"It's impressive how much faster we can go with new tyres. We're very proud of pole, but our most important thing is tomorrow."

Results:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha, 1:27.899

2. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda +0.221 seconds

3. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha +0.748

4. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Gresini Honda +0.814

5. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda +0.849

6. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Yamaha Tech +0.910

7. Bradley Smith (GB) Yamaha Tech +1.042

8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati +1.396

9. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati +1.761

10. Andrea Iannone (Ita) Ducati +1.857

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Marquez in Practice Crash

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Championship leader Marc Marquez crashed in practice for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix as title rival Jorge Lorenzo finished fastest.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who is closing in on the world title in his rookie season, came off his bike early in the afternoon session.

He was uninjured and was able to return to the circuit 20 minutes later.

Marquez finished the day second fastest, 0.294 seconds behind Lorenzo, who clocked one minute 28.961secs.

British rider Cal Crutchlow was sixth fastest, while his Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Bradley Smith recorded the seventh quickest time.

Marquez is bidding to become the first rookie in 35 years to win the premier class title.

He leads the standings by 43 points and can win the championship on Sunday if he wins the race and closest challenger Lorenzo finishes third or lower.

"The day went well, especially in the morning," said Repsol Honda rider Marquez.

"It's a pity about the crash right at the start of the afternoon run but we went back out with the second bike, which had a totally different geometry, and we had no time in which to change things. Thus, we used the initial set-up for the entire session."

Spain's Alvaro Bautista had the third-fastest lap, 0.477secs down on Lorenzo, with Marquez's Spanish team-mate Dani Pedrosa fourth at 0.517secs.

Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi was fifth quickest.

Pedrosa's afternoon practice session was disrupted when an engine mounting bolt, which was not properly locked, came loose, forcing him to stop on the track.

"Today was very positive, the new asphalt felt good and the tyres worked well for us," said Pedrosa. "The only setback was that we were unable to make the most of all the time available, due to a problem with the bike at the end of the afternoon session."

LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl, who fractured an ankle at Sepang last Saturday, was able to take part in opening practice but finished almost four seconds off the pace and was later declared unfit.

Results

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 1:28.961

2. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda 0.088

3. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda Gresini 0.664

4. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda 0.841

5. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 0.886

6. Cal Crutchlow (Gbr) Tech 3 Yamaha 0.963

7. Bradley Smith (Gbr) Tech 3 Yamaha 1.194,

8. Nicky Hayden (Usa) Ducati 1.499

9. Randy De Puniet (Fra) ART 2.113

10. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 2.128

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