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/1012061
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 / AUGUST 3-5, 2018 BRNO CIRCUIT/ OSTROVAICE, CZECH REPUBLIC P54 (HRC Honda) and Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM), triggered when Bradl lost the front under braking. Several other riders includ- ing Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Ducati) were seriously slowed. (The second KTM rider, Pol Espargaro, was already out, breaking his collarbone crashing in morning warm-up.) Rossi had jumped into the lead from the middle of the front row (Marquez qualified third), but before the first lap was half done for the team," he said. "I decided to stay back to save the tire, and this is new for me. We had good speed in the end but I was just a little too late." And Marquez made the most of third. "The Ducatis were really strong, in acceleration more than top speed, and in brak- ing. Maybe before I would have tried to fight to win, but my main target this weekend was to in- crease my championship lead." Only by three points, because the canny old fox Rossi man- aged to regain fourth place from Cal Crutchlow's LCR Castrol Honda in the final corner, race- craft and determination making up for vague overall weakness in his Movistar Yamaha package. The race started badly for his teammate Maverick Vinales, who was sent flying in a three-bike tangle with wildcard Stefan Bradl Stefan Bradl (red) was blamed for a nasty first-lap crash with Maverick Vinales (blue) and Bradley Smith. ANOTHER NEW FAIRING Ducati's newly homologated second 2018 fairing made an impressive de- but, with Pramac Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci giving a favorable report after placing second fastest on the first day. On Saturday, both factory riders Dovizioso and Lorenzo had adopted the new bodywork, with Dovi putting it on his first pole posi- tion since 2016. Asked what differ- ence it made, he said, "It's difficult to say now, but possibly it's better for braking." The bodywork has two box sections on each side, one high up on the handlebar cowling, and another lower on the fairing flank. JORGE'S NEW HONDA Honda will be ready to build Jorge Lorenzo a different bike from that used by current star rider Marc Marquez, but technical chief Takeo Yokoyama was not convinced that much change would be necessary. "We are aware that Lorenzo's riding style is quite different, but until he tries our package, we don't know what we will need to do. "I am con- fident that we can make what he will require, but I can't say how much different it will be until he starts to ride it." WHO CARES ABOUT MOTOE? Next year's electric-powered MotoE series had sparked the interest of all manufacturers, but motorcycling is not ready—and probably never will be—to follow F1 cars into hybrid power. According to Ducati's Gigi Dall'Igna, "I don't know if electric bikes are the only option for the Briefly...