ASSEN: Jack Miller of Australia won his first MotoGP race on Sunday, triumphing in treacherous conditions of a restarted race in Assen after torrential rain forced the riders off the track after 14 laps.

With the restarted race cut to 12 laps, the three leading riders — seven-time Assen winner Valentino Rossi on Yamaha and fellow Italians Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Pramac) — all fell on the slick track allowing Miller on his Honda to take a shock lead and hold on to pop a wheelie as he crossed the finish line.

Miller was the first Australian winner in MotoGP since Casey Stoner at his home Phillip Island track in 2012 and the first on a non-factory bike since Spaniard Toni Elias in Portugal a decade ago.

“I don’t know what to feel at the moment,” said Miller, who was listed at 750/1 before the race. “A lot of people... said this project wasn’t going to work and I just hope I’ve shown them wrong and that I can ride a bike.”

Spaniard Marc Marquez finished second for the Honda works team to stretch his championship lead over compatriot Jorge Lorenzo to 24 points.

Britain’s Scott Redding was third on a Ducati in the 250th race of the MotoGP era.

Lorenzo carefully nursed his Yamaha around the wet track to finish 10th. Marquez now has 145 points to Lorenzo’s 121 and Rossi’s 103.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2016