Australia Moto2: Binder scores win, Marquez struggles

Binder made a better start than pole-sitter Jorge Navarro and led into Turn 1, with his teammate Martin also passing the Speed Up rider for second on the opening lap.

The Ajo duo then stayed first and second until the chequered flag with Binder claiming his third win of the season.

Only Navarro and Tom Luthi were able to stay with Binder and Martin in the first half of the race, but even they lost ground as the race came to a close.

Martin was able to keep up with Binder for the most part, at one point even looking stronger, but he never upset his championship-contending teammate's run before losing a bit of time in the end and finishing 1.9s adrift.

He still secured the best result of his rookie Moto2 season and stood on the podium for the second time in a row.

Luthi passed Navarro for the final podium position, the Intact GP rider remaining Marquez's closest title challenger, cutting the gap by eight points to 28.

Pons rider Lorenzo Baldassarri led a group of riders to secure fifth ahead of Remy Gardner (SAG Kalex) and Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM), who recovered from a long lap penalty - received for dive-bombing both Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi on the opening lap.

Marquez was fourth after the start but he spent the whole race coming under pressure from other riders and was overtaken by several rivals.

He was battling with Tetsuta Nagashima (SAG) for ninth but was eventually able to salvage eighth by passing Stefano Manzi (Forward MV Agusta) on the penultimate lap. Manzi and Nagashima completed the top 10.

Marquez's Marc VDS teammate Xavi Vierge crashed at Turn 14, while Somkiat Chantra took Dominique Aegerter out at the same corner.

With two races to go, five riders remain in the title battle, with Binder, Navarro, and 19th-place finisher Augusto Fernandez (Pons) sitting 33, 43 and 50 points respectively behind Marquez.

Cla	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time
1	Brad Binder	KTM	25	-
2	Jorge Martin	KTM	25	01.968
3	Thomas Luthi	Kalex	25	06.021
4	Jorge Navarro	Speed Up	25	08.151
5	Lorenzo Baldassarri	Kalex	25	08.806
6	Remy Gardner	Kalex	25	08.955
7	Iker Lecuona	KTM	25	09.455
8	Alex Marquez	Kalex	25	10.055
9	Stefano Manzi	MV	25	10.699
10	Tetsuta Nagashima	Kalex	25	11.132
11	Marcel Schrotter	Kalex	25	14.353
12	Nicolo Bulega	Kalex	25	14.641
13	Jesko Raffin	NTS	25	18.541
14	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Speed Up	25	20.255
15	Bo Bendsneyder	NTS	25	29.238
16	Joe Roberts	KTM	25	30.870
17	Enea Bastianini	Kalex	25	31.031
18	Andrea Locatelli	Kalex	25	31.764
19	Augusto Fernandez	Kalex	25	33.324
20	Sam Lowes	Kalex	25	37.341
21	Jake Dixon	KTM	25	37.392
22	Philipp Ottl	KTM	25	01'09.178
23	Adam Norrodin	Kalex	25	01'10.717
24	Lukas Tulovic	KTM	25	01'11.606
25	Xavi Cardelus	KTM	25	01'12.066
26	Dimas Ekky Pratama	Kalex	25	01'21.622
27	Dominique Aegerter	MV	24	1 lap
	Somkiat Chantra	Kalex	14	11 laps
	Xavi Vierge	Kalex	3	22 laps
	Mattia Pasini	Kalex	3	22 laps
	Luca Marini	Kalex	0	25 laps
	Marco Bezzecchi	KTM	0	25 laps
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