Australia’s Jack Miller was left frustrated after his battle for a MotoGP victory at the French Grand Prix was ended by a mechanical problem with his Ducati as he was running second with just eight laps left, leaving Danilo Petrucci to go on and surprisingly win a dramatic race in the wet.

The Italian Petrucci held his nerve in tricky conditions to win Sunday’s race, while Repsol Honda rookie Alex Marquez clinched his first MotoGP podium.

Pramac’s Miller too must have been thinking of a podium place as he was competitive throughout at the front of the race from the moment he hit the front on the opening lap until, cruelly, calamity struck while the man from Townsville was still challenging for the lead and had to head to the pits with a mechanical issue.

The disappointment left the 25-year-old Queenslander lying seventh overall in the championship standings while Frenchman Fabio Quartararo still leads.

The race was delayed by a heavy downpour just moments before the start time at Bugatti Circuit and changed the fortunes of Quartararo and Joan Mir — who had never started a wet race before.

Pole-sitter Quartararo struggled on his Petronas Yamaha from the start, allowing Petrucci, who started third, to take the early lead as he went on to clinch his first victory of the season.

Petrucci’s win comes as a huge surprise after having failed to record a top-six finish in any of the previous eight races this season.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I had a good feeling on dry conditions early morning but maybe I can do it even in the rain.

“This victory is for all the people who believed in me in these difficult times.”

In the absence of the injured world champion Marc Marquez, younger brother and team mate Alex produced a string of blistering laps in his first wet race to finish second.

A crash for Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi on the opening lap meant he has now failed to finish in each of the last three races.

Alex Rins was second on his Suzuki when he suffered a crash with seven laps to go.

Despite finishing ninth in his home race, Quartararo extended his lead in the Championship standings to 10 points over nearest challenger Mir, who finished 11th.