Quartararo challenges
As the final few laps appeared on the horizon, Quartararo had been dropped by Marquez but the Frenchman would need to be careful.
On the last lap, everything suddenly tightened up as Marquez cruised round for the win and Quartararo closed in; Dovizioso closing in on him...but the Italian couldn't quite get close enough to make a final lap lunge. Marquez took the win, Quartararo second and Dovizioso third, all with big reasons to spray the prosecco with a smile on the podium: manufacturer glory, rookie genius and a century of rostrum finishes.
Rossi misses out
Vinales took fourth after just being denied the podium, ahead of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) in P5 as the Brit beat Morbidelli by 0.047 on the run to the line to grab his first top five finish since the Czech GP.
One name noticeably absent from that run down is that of nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who had a tough race that then ended early in a crash, as was the situation for Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).
A century!
It had become a Dovizioso vs Vinales for the final rostrum place, with two different machines making for an interesting concertina of a duel.
For Dovizioso, it was his 100th podium after he fought off Vinales.
Australia next
Step two of three is now complete with the riders' and constructors' titles sewn up, can they catch Ducati in the team standings?
It's not long to go until the riders are back out on track at Phillip Island for the eight-time champion to try and go one better. Tune in next weekend for the Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.