 Melandri won by by 9.699 seconds from Vermeulen |
Italy's Marco Melandri won a rain-hit Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island, with reigning champion Valentino Rossi grabbing third at the final corner. Melandri won won the 26-lap race in a time of 44 minutes 15.62, 9.69 seconds ahead of Australia's Chris Vermeulen.
Rossi, chasing a sixth successive victory at the circuit, closed the gap in the title race on Nicky Hayden, with the American finishing fifth from pole.
Spain's Dani Pedrosa, second in the standings before the race, came 15th.
Rossi excited the crowd when he slipped past Spaniard Sete Gibernau to snatch a podium place after an incident-packed race.
 | When I found my rhythm I learned my bike was working very well |
"I lost a lot of time with the rain tyres but I think that was my fault," said the Italian. "It was just on the last corner and it was so important."
Rossi, chasing his sixth MotoGP crown, now trails Hayden by 21 points heading into the final three races of the season in Japan, Portugal and Spain.
"I take second place in the championship with three races to go, we will be trying, for sure," he added.
Rain began falling in the early stages of the race, forcing riders to come into the pits to switch to bikes with wet weather tyres.
Melandri, who started from seventh on the grid, notched his third win of the season after victories at the French and Turkish MotoGPs.
"I really love this track," said the Honda rider. "I have won the 125 race (in 1999) and I also won the 250 world championship here (in 2002).
"At the beginning in the wet it was very difficult, but when I found my rhythm I learned my bike was working very well.
"I was watching my pit board but nobody was coming and I just ran very smooth to the finish."
Melandri is now level on points with Pedrosa, whose poor result saw him drop to fourth in the standings.
Vermeulen's second place was his first podium finish in MotoGP's top class and took him into the top 10.
England's James Ellison finished 16th on the Tech 3 Yamaha.
Hayden was later reported to have claimed Rossi made a passing manoeuvre on Casey Stoner when the yellow flags were out but no official protest was lodged with stewards. Alvaro Bautista of Spain clinched the first title of the season in MotoGP's three divisions by winning the 125cc race. Bautista is also the first to win seven 125cc races in a single season since Japan's Haruchika Aoki in 1995.
Australian MotoGP results:
1. Marco Melandri (Ita) Honda 44:15.621
2. Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 44:25.320
3. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 44:26.147
4. Sete Gibernau (Spa) Ducati 44:26.236
5. Nicky Hayden (US) Honda 44:26.315
6. Casey Stoner (Aus) Honda 44:26.944
7. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 44:42.176
8. Shinya Nakano (Jpn) Kawasaki 44:42.287
9. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 45:12.855
10. Makoto Tamada (Jpn) Honda 45:17.852
11. Randy de Puniet (Fra) Kawasaki 45:18.053
12. John Hopkins (US) Suzuki 45:34.430
13. Alex Hofmann (Ger) Ducati 46:03.854
14. Kenny Roberts Jr (US) KR211V +1 Laps
15. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda +1 Laps
250 cc results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Aprilia 39:17.327
2. Alex de Angelis (SM) Aprilia 39:17.336
3. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) KTM 39:23.887
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 39:35.523
5. Shuhei Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 39:53.327
6. Hector Barbera (Spa) Aprilia 39:53.811
7. Roberto Locatelli (Ita) Aprilia 39:54.377
8. Jakub Smrz (Cze) Aprilia 39:54.461
9. Anthony West (Aus) Aprilia 40:16.98
10. Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Gilera 40:21.156
11. Dirk Heidolf (Ger) Aprilia 40:21.161
12. Jules Cluzel (Fra) Aprilia 40:24.913
13. Manuel Poggiali (SM) KTM 40:25.102
14. Fabrizio Perren (Arg) Honda 40:25.176
15. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Honda 40:25.392
125cc results:
1. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Aprilia 24:30.115
2. Mika Kallio (Fin) KTM 24:33.357
3. Mattia Pasini (Ita) Aprilia 24:33.496
4. Thomas Luthi (Swi) Honda 24:33.754
5. Julian Simon (Spa) KTM 24:33.953
6. Lukas Pesek (Cze) Derbi 24:36.184
7. Raffaele De Rosa (Ita) Aprilia 24:36.200
8. Fabrizio Lai (Ita) Honda 24:36.687
9. Gabor Talmacsi (Hun) Honda 24:36.819
10. Joan Olive (Spa) Aprilia 24:38.425
11. Nicolas Terol (Spa) Derbi 24.43.365
12. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Jpn) Malaguti 24:43.400
13. Hector Faubel (Spa) Aprilia 24:43.462
14. Sandro Cortese (Ger) Honda 24:43.517
15. Mike Di Meglio (Fra) Honda 24:57.861
MotoGP standings:
1. Nicky Hayden (US) Honda 225
2. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 204
3. Marco Melandri (Ita) Honda 193
4. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 193
5. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 180
6. Casey Stoner (Aus) Honda 119
7. Kenny Roberts Jr (US) KR211V 103
8. John Hopkins (US) Suzuki 97
9. Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 96
10. Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 86
Manufacturers standings:
1 Honda 303pts
2 Yamaha 242pts
3 Ducati 193pts
4 Suzuki 131pts
5 WCM Bimota 103pts
6 Kawasaki 94pts
250cc standings:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Aprilia 249pts
2. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 225
3. Alex De Angelis (SM) Aprilia 167
4. Hiroshi Aoyoma (Jpn) KTM 148
5. Roberto Locatelli (Ita) Aprilia 147
125cc:
1. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Aprilia 280pts*
2. Mika Kallio (Fin) KTM 201
3. Mattia Pasini (Ita) Aprilia 172
4. Sergio Gadea (Spa) Aprilia 14
5. Hector Faubel (ESP) Aprilia 142
* confirmed as class champion
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