Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/209493
VOL. 50 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 12, 2013 P127 of bumping into his youthful aggressor's Honda. And he hit him again a week later in Australia. Lorenzo's breakthrough came when Marquez's team so badly duffed up their Phillip Island pit stop that the rider was disqualified. "It was like a gift," said Lorenzo. He capitalized on it, in his considered way – by steadfast effort and fast and amazingly consistent laps, keeping the pressure on and closing to within striking distance. This after having been 44 points adrift after Brno. Lorenzo is not a warm personality like Rossi, or indeed Marquez. He is too considered and calculating, lacks spontaneity. He works hard, for example, at being famous, but makes it somehow seem joyless. Matters not a jot, up against his formidable powers as a racer. It bodes well for next year. Marquez will not have it all his own way. Or will he? Quixote's Rocinante was no noble charger, but a skin-and-bone barn nag well past its prime. It's rather hard to apply the same words to Lorenzo's Yamaha, but not entirely irrelevant. The M1 is a beautifully wrought and carefully developed motorcycle, but little changed in essence in almost a decade, in spite of changing capacities and ever-tightening technical rules. What it does it does well; but its repertoire is somewhat single-minded. It excels in smooth lappery, with high corner speeds and sustained momentum. Just the assets that Lorenzo is equipped to exploit best. Trouble is, the Honda does it differently: explosive acceleration and agile braking that lends itself to a stop-and-go style. Mid-corner speed is relatively low, but if it can bully its way to the apex before the Yamaha, then it is in the way. And shoots away under power as the M1 struggles to regain lost impetus. If Yamaha can't change these aspects for 2014, and given the in-line engine architecture it won't be easy, then it could just be a Marquez benefit, no matter how many windmills Lorenzo knocks over. CN LOOKING BACK 40 Years Ago November 20, 1973 Mitch Mayes was featured on the cover for being on the first motorcycle to reach the finish line in the Baja 1000. He teamed with A.C. Bakken. Carl Cranke was also on the cover for topping the Hopetown Grand Prix… We covered the first test jump of Evel Knievel's historic motorcycle leap over the Snake River. The "cycle" didn't make it and ended up in the river. 30 Years Ago November 23, 1983 Honda introduced its new 1000 Interceptor and Nighthawk 700 S and we promptly put them on the cover 30 years ago… Lance King won the U.S. Long Track Speedway Championship at Ascot… Billy Keefe took top honors at the CZ World Championships at Saddleback Park… Seven-hundred amateurs invaded Jack Murphy Stadium for the Amateur Supercross. Ken Zahrt won the 250 Expert class. 20 Years Ago November 17, 1993 We featured Damon Huffman on the cover to accompany our interview with the up-and-coming motocrosser... Racers boycotted the World Superbike round in Mexico, but Scott Russell was crowned champion… Randy Hawkins clinched his fifth National Enduro title in Delaware… Fred Andrews won the Mt. Morris GNCC. 10 Years Ago November 12, 2003 A four-bike 250cc motocross shootout from Honey Lake was featured on the cover 10 years ago. Doug Henry also got on the cover for winning the Irwindale Supermoto… Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP final in Valencia… Jeff Gibson won the Four-Stroke MX Championship at Binghamton. Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives