VOL. 55 ISSUE 28 JULY 17, 2018 P61
Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Kalex)
led into the first corner from his
first-ever front-row start, followed
by teammate, championship
leader Pecco Bagnaia.
On lap two, pole-starter Mattia
Pasini had just moved his Ital-
trans Kalex inside Bagnaia into
second, but in the final corner
he slid off, right under his fellow
Italian's front wheel.
Bagnaia swerved away and
careened across the gravel. He
would finish lap three way down
in 25th.
This was good news for title
rival Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull
KTM), who had qualified 15th on
an ultra-close grid. He started
strongly, well up in the top 10,
only for a bump with Xavi Vierge
(Dynavolt Kalex) to drop him to
12th at the end of lap one.
Up front, Joan Mir had inherit-
ed second, ahead of Sam Lowes
(SII KTM) and his EG-VDS team-
mate Alex Marquez, in pain after
a heavy crash yesterday.
Binder sliced past Marquez
and Lowes on lap three; two laps
later, Mir consigned Marini to
second, and the first three were
directly moving clear.
The big change came on lap
10. Binder took Marini into the
first corner, and Mir at the end of
the lap, to gain a lead he would
never lose.
They stayed close. Every es-
cape bid by Binder was pegged
back by Mir. But the South
African could sustain his narrow
lead, still just seven tenths over
the line; while at the same time
Marini was gaining strength for
his own final challenge, finishing
third by less than two tenths.
They'd been pursued until
after half distance by Marcel
Schrotter (Dynavolt Kalex), in turn
chased by Sam Lowes (KTM)
until Oliveira got between them
on lap 11. Eight laps later the
Oliveira's KTM was ahead of the
Schrotter's Kalex, and looking to
threaten the front three.
But by then, tire grip was in
short supply, and while Oliveira
did close a gap of 1.6 seconds to
less than a second, he was never
