Jack Miller was a standout performer on home soil at the Australian Grand Prix. Image: MotoGP.com.

One of the most perplexing grands prix of the modern era has been won by Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, with victory at Phillip Island and the misfortune of his title rival giving the 2012 champion a second chance to defend his title.

The stage was already set for a thrilling race, with officials reducing the number of laps to just 19 and enforcing a mandatory bike swap to cater for the rapidly-degrading tyre compound.

Lorenzo was away like a bullet from pole, and despite a strong attack from Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, maintained the lead as the race entered the critical period – a two lap window in which bikes had to be changed.

Pedrosa reacted first, pitting from third, leaving the leaders out on track for a further lap. But, in what has initially been termed a basic miscommunication, Marquez did not follow Lorenzo into pit lane, leaving his run a lap too long.

He pit a lap later, rejoining the race to make light contact with Lorenzo as the leader swept into the fast turn one, but the touch was incidental compared to the call from the officials that followed which saw Marquez disqualified from the race.

Lorenzo’s 50th grand prix win was significant in more ways than one. He entered the weekend in the position of potentially handing over his title to his rookie rival with two rounds to run, but now finds himself just 18 points away from the championship lead with 50 points still to play for.

Pedrosa claimed second, despite having to hand back a place to his teammate for exceeding the set speed in the entry to pit lane upon swapping to his second bike.

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi claimed the final podium placing on offer after a race-long battle with Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Gresini Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Monster Tech3 Yamaha) who took positions four and five respectively.

An 11th place finish for Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro saw him finish in the second CRT place behind teammate Randy de Puniet, but score enough points to confirm himself as the champion of the production-based sub class.

It was a punishing day for MotoGP’s Aussie combatants Bryan Staring and Damian Cudlin, with the bike swap regulation proving a significant hindrance.

The CRT entries of Gresini Honda and Paul Bird Motorsport do not run identical second bikes, meaning the second stanza of the race would be particularly challenging in addition to starting out of grid positions 21 and 23 respectively.

Ultimately Staring was served with the same penalty as Marquez, exceeding the allowed pit window for the bike swap after running second as riders pitted around him.

Cudlin was black-flagged for the same infringement but was classified a finisher in 21st place, a credible result for his first ever grand prix appearance on home soil.

The Australian round of the Moto2 championship will likely be remembered as the turning point of a tightly-contested season, with significant tyre issues and a new points leader emerging with just two rounds to run.

With previous leader, Brit Scott Redding sidelined due to a fractured wrist sustained in qualifying, Spaniard Pol Espargaro was handed a golden opportunity to take over at the front, one which he grabbed with both hands.

Run over just 13 laps, the race was led by the Tuenti HP 40 polesitter from start to finish, with Interwetten Paddock rider Thom Luthi challenging but ultimately settling for second and Jordi Torres claiming third.

With Redding likely sidelined from Motegi in seven days time, the monumental shift in momentum back to Espargaro now has the Spanish rider in the frame to possibly tie up the title in Japan.

Aussie fans were given plenty to cheer about with Ant West making up 10 positions in the shortened race to register a top 10 finish.

The QMMF Racing Team rider carved his way through the pack to a strong points finish, moving himself to 15th outright in the championship in the process.

Moto3 victory went the way of Alex Rins, with the Spanish rider pegging back three places on the final lap to claim his sixth victory of the season.

Maverick Vinales was second and Luis Salom third, but home favourite Jack Miller was undoubtedly the standout performer, battling in second as the race came to a head.

The Queensland-born rider looked in the frame to capture a maiden grand prix podium, but his strength under brakes on the Honda was unfortunately not enough to counter the horsepower of the international fray, all KTM-mounted. Miller was a close fifth at the wave of the chequered flag.

South Australian Arthur Sissis missed the points by one position after placing 16th, a disappointing result after finishing on the podium at his home race in 2012.

Wildcard Lachlan Kavney crashed on the opening lap in an attempt to avoid another rider’s incident but bravely remounted for a 30th place finish.

2013 MotoGP World Championship
Round 16 – Phillip Island, Australia

MotoGP race:
1. Jorge LORENZO
2. Dani PEDROSA +6.936
3. Valentino ROSSI +12.344
4. Cal CRUTCHLOW +12.460
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA +12.513
6. Bradley SMITH +28.263
7. Nicky HAYDEN +32.953
8. Andrea IANNONE +35.062
9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO +35.104
10. Randy DE PUNIET +37.426
11. Aleix ESPARGARO +46.099
12. Colin EDWARDS +48.149
13. Yonny HERNANDEZ +49.911
14. Hector BARBERA +49.998
15. Danilo PETRUCCI +58.718
16. Luca SCASSA +58.791
17. Claudio CORTI +1m08.105
18. Michael LAVERTY +1m27.230
19. Lukas PESEK +1m31.093
20. Hiroshi AOYAMA 1 Lap
21. Damian CUDLIN (AUS) 2 Laps
EXC. Bryan STARING

Championship standings (after 16 of 18 rounds):
1. Marc MARQUEZ 298
2. Jorge LORENZO 280
3. Dani PEDROSA 264
4. Valentino ROSSI 214
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW 179
6. Alvaro BAUTISTA 147
7. Stefan BRADL 135
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 127
9. Nicky HAYDEN 111
10. Bradley SMITH 99
11. Aleix ESPARGARO 88
12. Andrea IANNONE 55
13. Michele PIRRO 50
14. Colin EDWARDS 36
15. Randy DE PUNIET 33
16. Hector BARBERA 31
17. Danilo PETRUCCI 24
18. Yonny HERNANDEZ 20
19. Hiroshi AOYAMA 13
20. Claudio CORTI 11
25. Bryan STARING (AUS) 2

Moto2 race:
1. Pol ESPARGARO
2. Thomas LUTHI +0.591
3. Jordi TORRES +0.679
4. Simone CORSI +0.893
5. Alex DE ANGELIS +1.111
6. Dominique AEGERTER +3.073
7. Mika KALLIO +3.234
8. Esteve RABAT +3.655
9. Nicolas TEROL +10.182
10. Anthony WEST +18.083
11. Sandro CORTESE +18.317
12. Ricard CARDUS +19.415
13. Danny KENT +32.194
14. Gino REA +32.835
15. Doni Tata PRADITA +35.588
16. Mattia PASINI +36.183
17. Kohta NOZANE +36.542
18. Steven ODENDAAL +36.913
19. Azlan SHAH +37.099
20. Rafid Topan SUCIPTO +37.426

Championship standings (after 15 of 17 rounds):
1. Pol ESPARGARO 240
2. Scott REDDING 224
3. Esteve RABAT 204
4. Mika KALLIO 165
5. Dominique AEGERTER 143
6. Takaaki NAKAGAMI 138
7. Thomas LUTHI 130
8. Johann ZARCO 123
9. Nicolas TEROL 115
10. Jordi TORRES 106
11. Simone CORSI 92
12. Xavier SIMEON 71
13. Julian SIMON 63
14. Alex DE ANGELIS 57
15. Anthony WEST 48
16. Mattia PASINI 42
17. Marcel SCHROTTEE 29
18. Toni ELIAS 21
19. Randy KRUMMENACHER 20
20. Mike DI MEGLIO 18

Moto3 race:
1. Alex RINS
2. Maverick VIÑALES +0.003
3. Luis SALOM +0.178
4. Alex MARQUEZ +0.502
5. Jack MILLER +0.601
6. Jonas FOLGER +1.077
7. Efren VAZQUEZ +1.104
8. Niccolò ANTONELLI +2.267
9. Niklas AJO +15.074
10. Alexis MASBOU +15.960
11. Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN +15.974
12. Jakub KORNFEIL +16.105
13. Isaac VIÑALES +16.311
14. Romano FENATI +16.532
15. Brad BINDER +16.629
16. Arthur SISSIS +16.665
17. John MCPHEE +16.898
18. Livio LOI +17.353
19. Ana CARRASCO +19.042
20. Jasper IWEMA +36.382
30. Lachlan KAVNEY (AUS) +1 Lap

Championship standings (after 15 of 17 rounds):
1. Luis SALOM 300
2. Alex RINS 295
3. Maverick VIÑALES 278
4. Alex MARQUEZ 175
5. Jonas FOLGER 147
6. Miguel OLIVEIRA 131
7. Jack MILLER 100
8. Alexis MASBOU 84
9. Efren VAZQUEZ 71
10. Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN 65
11. Jakub KORNFEIL 63
12. Arthur SISSIS 59
13. Romano FENATI 57
14. Brad BINDER 56
15. Niklas AJO 54
16. Niccolò ANTONELLI 40
17. Isaac VIÑALES 38
18. Philipp OETTL 24
19. John MCPHEE 15
20. Danny WEBB 15

Click here for detailed results