Brad Binder has won a shortened Moto3 race at Phillip Island by almost six seconds ahead of Andrea Locatelli.
But his brother Darryn was just denied his first series podium after being pipped over the line for third by Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider Aron Canet.
The original race was red-flagged on Lap Six after a huge crash involving Scotland’s John McPhee, who crashed and took out Enea Bastianini and Andrea Migno. In turn, Bastianini skidded across the track and took out Jorge Navarro.
The grid for the 10-lap restart was determined by the positions the pack had been in on Lap Five, which meant initial poleman Binder, who had been leading by a couple of bike lengths, reclaimed his spot at the front.
It was bad news for penalised Leopard Racing rider Fabio Quartararo who had been forced to start at the back after being hit with a penalty yesterday for using non-homologated electronics.
He once again had to start from the back, despite having made it up to second place before the race was stopped.
With 10 riders missing from the restart, new champ Binder got another clean getaway, as Gabriel Rodrigo was also away well with Locatelli, who started second, dropping back to third.
Locatelli was back up to second by the second corner, as Niccolo Antonelli became the first victim and crashed out at Turn Four.
Binder made it look easy as he romped off into the lead with Locatelli behind, the pair gapping the rest within a lap, while the big battle became for third.
It was a scrap that involved more than 10 bikes as the riders scrapped it out and used slipstreaming to the max to provide nine laps of non-stop action.
Rodrigo managed to hold onto third for three laps but was unable to keep it for any longer as several other riders jostled for position, swapping places several times each lap.
SKY Racing Team VR46 rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta was called in for a drive through penalty for a jump start which put an end to his charge, while Quartararo was never able to emulate the form he had shown earlier and didn’t come anywhere near the top six.
The third place battle became a scrap mainly between Platinum Bay Real Estate Mahindra man Marcos Ramirez and Ongetta-Rivacold’s Jules Danilo while Canet and Binder came into play on the penultimate lap amid the slipstream chaos on the start/finish straight.
The younger Binder moved up to third over the line at the start of the final lap after moving ahead of Canet, and seconds later Navarro was knocked off track and off his bike after a nudge from Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Bo Bendsneyder.
Rodrigo crashed at Turn Nine but all eyes were on Canet and Binder, as the pair squared up to come across the line almost side by side, Canet just edging ahead to take third with the Platinum Bay Real Estate rider fourth.
Fifth went to RW Racing GP BV’s Livio Loi with Jorge Martin on the Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra sixth, Ramirez seventh and Honda Team Asia’s Hiroki Ono eighth. Danilo ended up ninth with Bendsneyder 10th.
The last update regarding John McPhee was that he was conscious and receiving medical treatment.