The action begun at the Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix as soon as the lights went out and didn't stop till all of the 27 laps were complete.
Valentino Rossi fought with tooth and claw against Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) as the trio attempted to close down Jorge Lorenzo. The four riders would eventually join together for one of the closest and most intense battles the MotoGP World Championship has seen in recent years.
While Rossi was able to lap with the leaders he never seemed able to pose a real challenge for the lead of the race, usually drafted by Iannone down the straight and forced to fight past his fellow Italian lap after lap. Passing between the two close friends was hard but fair, both Rossi and Iannone revelling in the thrill of battle.
It all came down to the last lap, but unfortunately, Rossi was unable to best Iannone and for just the second time in 2015 he finished off the podium.
Movistar Yamaha teammate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo finished second and was able to reduce the championship gap to just 11 points. Mathematically Rossi could claim the title in Malaysia if he is third or higher and Lorenzo is unable to score. Even if this scenario does not occur, Rossi can finish second in the remaining two rounds and still secure his tenth world title.
"Today the results could have been better," Rossi said, but this is OK too. It could have been better if I would have been able to overtake Iannone in the last lap and it was a shame I wasn't able to stay on the podium. I had a good pace and good speed during the race, so arriving in fourth place is a pity, but it was still a good race. We already said that race results was going to be important ten rounds ago, but now it's really important and it will be very tough until the last race."
