MotoGP: Marquez gets one hand on the championship with victory at Phillip Island

Marc Marquez has inched closer to the 2017 MotoGP championship title with his win at Phillip Island. The 24-year-old Spaniard now has a 33-point lead over Andrea Dovizioso, his closest championship rival.

The race got off to an interesting start with Jack Miller jumping from the fifth position to snatch the lead from Marquez within the first corner. On his home turf, Miller maintained the lead for the first five laps, giving no hints that it had been just three weeks since he fractured his right leg in a training crash. After that, the race witnessed a heated battle for the first position between Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Maverick Vinales and Johann Zarco. By the end however, it was Marquez who emerged victorious, followed by Rossi and Vinales.  

Dovizioso started the race in the 11th position and was steadily climbing through the ranks when he went off the track and dropped to the back of the grid. He kept fighting his way throughout the race, finishing in the 13th position and scoring three points. With just two races left in the season, Marquez is now very close to claiming his fourth MotoGP championship title. The next race will be conducted at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia over the next weekend.