Frenchman Johann Zarco has celebrated his maiden MotoGP victory at the Australian Grand Prix by doing a backflip off a fence.
Zarco took the lead on the final lap of the Phillip Island circuit with a bold move down the inside of teammate Jorge Martin at the tight turn-four hairpin.
Starting from pole, Martin had led the entirety of the race up until that point but had gambled on using a softer compound rear tyre than his rivals in the race.
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While that decision saw him blaze into the distance early in the race – leading by more than 3.5 seconds at the mid-way point – the field quickly caught up as the softer tyre wore out.
Martin’s lead was still well over a second with two laps to go, but it was at that point that the Spaniard’s tyre wear became all too much and he lost nearly a second in that lap alone.
Martin was slow out of the Southern Loop on the final tour, allowing teammate Zarco to close right up before he dived down the inside at the hairpin.
The move forced Martin slightly wide and allowed Francesco Bagnaia to follow him through into second place.
By the time they got to the finish line, Martin had slipped to fifth as his worn tyre left him a sitting duck.
After taking the chequered flag, Martin pulled over in front of a group of French fans and performed a backflip – which was once his customary way of celebrating wins as he made his way through the junior classes to MotoGP.
“What an incredible last lap here … you can throw a blanket, a tissue, over the top five,” commentator Matt Birt said.
Zarco had to wait more than 100 races and for his seventh season in the top tier of motorcycle racing to clinch his first win.
“It’s a good feeling, it’s hard to believe,” he said afterwards.
“After so many races I finally won. I have to take in the moment. I want to cry, but not at the moment.”
Aussie Jack Miller was running third at the end of the opening lap but gradually slipped back to seventh at the finish.
A terrible weather forecast caused organisers to move the 27-lap grand prix from Sunday afternoon to Saturday.
The sprint race, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, will now be run Sunday afternoon.
The entire Sunday schedule has also been brought forward in a bid to get all the races completed before the weather sets in.
The forecast is for up to 10mm of rain, but a bigger concern is the forecast wind gusts of up to 80km/h.
The Phillip Island circuit south east of Melbourne is incredibly exposed, and riders feel wind effects far more there than anywhere else on the calendar.
Qualifying for the 2019 Australian Grand Prix had to be red-flagged after a rider was literally blown off his bike on the main straight by a gust of wind.
The decision to reschedule was welcomed by the entire paddock.
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Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
