The lead was chopping and changing lap by lap, particularly between Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) and Vierge. With five to go, it was a group of six at the front, all of which looked menacing. However, Baldassarri’s race would end prematurely at Turn 10 after the Italian got his Kalex machine out of shape under braking and with grass and slick tyres not a good mix, Baldassarri went down and out of contention. And so, heading onto the last lap, there were five riders in contention. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) made a sweeping move to go from fifth to third at Turn 1 as Binder led the way from Mir. Turn 4 then saw Marini run wide and out of podium contention, with Fernandez and Vierge also getting out of sorts on the exit to leave the battle for the win between Binder and Mir.

Mir wasn’t close enough at his particular strong point: Turn 10, but on the exit of Turn 11 Binder lit up the rear of his KTM. A run to the line then followed but the South African had just enough edge out the Spaniard – the 2016 and 2017 Moto3™ Champions going head-to-head. Vierge won the race to the line with Fernandez, with Marini taking P5. Aegerter would eventually finish 2.4 back from the win after being in the leading group throughout, with Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) P7 after being unable to cling on to the front runners. 2018 European Moto2™ Champion Jesko Raffin (SAG Team) earned a P8 at Phillip Island – a very solid ride from the Swiss rider.