VOL. 55 ISSUE 26 JULY 3, 2018 P79
create rippling bumps in the braking
areas. But there was also some senti-
ment involved, for 10-time Assen win-
ner Valentino Rossi. "I hope they don't
come," he said. "F1 has a lot of tracks
just for cars. Here at Assen in history it
has been just for bikes. So the bumps
would be bad, but also for the historic
side." Jorge Lorenzo was worried
about what modifications would be
required to make the fast corners safe
for the cars. There would need to be
chicanes, and barriers, where "here
there is green outside the track."
ALREADY GONE
MotoGP's first Kazakh rider Makar
Yurchenko's rookie Moto3 season has
come to an abrupt end, in spite of the
19-year-old scoring points in three of
the last four races. The problem was
money, after promised sponsorship
backing for the French CIP team failed
to materialize. His place alongside
lead rider John McPhee has been
taken by 16-year-old Italian Stefano
Nepa.
NO LOVE?
Modern MotoGP racing has reached
highly professional levels. But in the
process it has lost romance. This is
the view of Valentino Rossi, asked to
explain the difference since the start
of MotoGP in 2002, and why current
racing was so much closer than in the
past. "Over 15 years, the level of pro-
fessionality is higher," he said, talking
about how riders must study their ap-
proach corner by corner, being aware
of fine details of surface and grip. "Fif-
teen years ago, it was more romantic.
You rode your bike and you had your
feeling. Now maybe it is more boring
… but better for the fans."
Briefly...
(Above) Jorge Lorenzo (99)
came through from the fourth
row to storm into the lead and
controlled the first third of the
race. (Right) Alex Rins (42) dived
up the inside of Maverick Vinales
(25) with two corners to go, ran
ultra-wide in the final chicane
and only just managed to save
second place at the line.
