Queenslander Jack Miller narrowly missed out on his first podium finish in Moto3 on Sunday after Alex Rins stuck his neck out to win at the Australian Grand Prix.

Rins crossed the line just 0.003secs ahead of Maverick Vinales following a dramatic final few laps at Phillip Island.

The victory was the Spaniard’s sixth of the season and brought him within arm’s length of championship leader and third-place getter Luis Salom.

Only five points separate the pair with just two rounds of the season left.

Alex Marquez finished fourth, one-tenth of a second in front of Australia’s Miller who scored an equal season-best fifth.

It was a hard-fought battle for the 18-year-old FTR Honda rider, who tussled for a top-three spot with at least four others in the closing stages of the 23-lap race.

Starting 10th on the grid, Miller steadily steered his way through the field, advancing past Salom into second place but couldn’t hold on.

The Townsville rider, who is joining the category’s top team Red Bull KTM in 2014, is the highest-placed non-European on the championship standings in seventh.

It was a different story for one of his compatriots, wildcard Lachlan Kavney, who finished last after being involved in a spectacular opening-lap crash.

In a mistake by Miguel Oliveira seconds into the race, the Portuguese rider flipped head over heels and collected Kavney in the process.

Both riders escaped uninjured and managed to re-join the race but Kavney was relegated to the back of the pack.

Fellow Australian Arthur Sissis ended the race in 16th.