The second row of the grid consists of Doriano Romboni in fifth, Nobuatsu Aoki in sixth, Luca Cadalora in seventh and Kenny Roberts Jr. in eighth.

Àlex Crivillé was still out of contention due to a fall at one of the free practice sessions at the Dutch round, sustaining serious tendon and bone damage as well as lesions of the blood vessels in his left wrist.

Norifumi Abe also has a fantastic start from eleventh on the grid to slot behind into third, then second place after Checa loses out.

At the end of Starkey's Straight, Okada makes a move on Abe and passes him for second place heading into The Esses (Turn 9).

At Coppice (Turn 8), Okada has by now closed the gap to Barros and tries a move around the outside of the Brazilian but he holds on heading into The Esses.

Anthony Gobert on the Lucky Strike Suzuki is going slowly but also doing a wheelie, having to retire due to technical problems.

Lap eleven and Juan Borja tries a move down the inside of T. Aoki at Redgate for eighth but isn't able to get by.

At the end of Starkey's Straight, Alberto Puig slams on the brakes very late and almost goes wide entering The Esses.

Lap fifteen - the halfway point of the race - and Abe has now fully closed the gap to Barros.

At Starkey's Straight, Abe tries a move on the Brazilian but he defends well on the brakes, keeping the position entering The Esses.

On lap eighteen, Barros passes backmarker Laurent Naveau at the Wheatcroft Straight.

Doohan sets the fastest lap as he still is being chased by Okada, though opening a small gap to him by now.

However, Cadalora runs a bit wide upon exit, allowing Barros to get back at him by diving down the inside at the Melbourne Hairpin, retaking the position.

On lap twenty, Cadalora goes past Barros at the end of the Wheatcroft Straight for third and is not able to get back at him this time around.

However, Barros stays with Cadalora at McLean's and Coppice but loses out on the straight due to a lack of power.

Lap twenty-one and Okada makes another move on the Australian, going up his inside at Redgate and successfully taking the lead of the race.

Exiting Coppice, Barros is right behind Cadalorda, this time manages to stay close to the Italian at Starkey's Straight and makes a dive down his inside to retake third spot at The Esses.

On lap twenty-four, Cadalora closes up at Redgate as N. Aoki is starting to lose ground to the Italian again.

Okada is close at McLean's but with Doohan shutting the door on him, he is not able to make a move at Coppice.

On lap twenty-six, Puig has crashed out of the race, the rider walking unhurt to his bike as the marshalls recover it.

However, as Cadalora has a better exit out of the chicane, he goes past the Brazilian at the short straight before the Melbourne Loop and keeps third place.

Lap twenty-seven and N. Aoki goes past Barros on power at Wheatcroft Straight, taking fourth place away from him.

Exiting the Old hairpin though, Barros is very close and retakes fourth by going up the inside of N. Aoki at Schwantz Curve.

Okada harasses Doohan all throughout the lap but thanks to his clever defending he manages to exit the last corner and cross the line to win the race - his tenth victory of the season and eleventh consecutive podium finish.

Upon crossing the line, Doohan puts his fist up in the air in delight, then makes multiple hand gestures to signify his victory, looking back to see how close Okada was to him.

Doohan's victory now means he has an unassailable lead over his championship rivals, making him the 1997 world champion.