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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 / AUGUST 3-5, 2018 BRNO CIRCUIT/ OSTROVAICE, CZECH REPUBLIC P58 have enough pace." He was back to third on lap 11; two laps later fifth, behind Crutchlow and Lorenzo, the Englishman in third ahead of the Ducati for a few laps, until he succumbed to its accelera- tion again, and at the same time was battling worsening off-throttle slides. "Usually I have trouble with the front gaining too much heat when I'm with other riders, but this time it was different, and the bike was floating mid-corner," Crutchlow said. Lorenzo was up to second ahead of Marquez by the end of lap 18, and the front three starting to pull clear over the final three laps. The tension was rising, with Marquez probing at Lorenzo, the battle seeming to favor Dovi up front, but only slightly. Margins remained small. On lap 20 they swapped twice, but Lorenzo was still a close second as they started the last lap, only for Marquez to nose ahead in turn three. Lorenzo took him back before the stadium section two bends later, and now he started at- tacking Dovizioso. It was a breathless final lap, with the Ducatis frequently, if only briefly, side-by-side. But in the end Dovi's lines were perfect and his tactics sound. A little way back, Rossi got close enough to attack iii My Own Race: 35 CAL CRUTCHLOW 5TH MOTOGP "I gave my best; my best was fifth place today," said Cal Crutchlow. "I got beat by Valentino at the line simply because I made a mistake at turn three earlier on in the lap and he man- aged to catch me. So, for this I'm disappointed but the team did a great job all weekend, Honda did a great job. But we have to be pleased, we have to be pleased to be in that battle with the guys at the front of the championship, and competitive." 45 SCOTT REDDING DNF MOTOGP "Unfortunately, today's crash was very similar to yesterday's," Scott Redding said. "We were at the limit with the hard front tire, especially when I was riding by myself. In fact, in the early laps I was able to be rather aggressive, overtaking a few riders, but then I began to lose the feeling, especially when I released the brakes, until the crash. It seems like with this bike, the front tire's range of use is rather restricted. As soon as you go out of the ideal window, problems begin. I could have settled for finishing the race, but I decided to have a go anyway, pushing to the maximum." 21 FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO 1ST MOTO3 "We've been working for this for a long, long time," Moto3 winner Fabio Di Giannantonio said. "I am improving and growing up as a rider and we needed to show it on the track—well, we did it. We started the race with the idea to stay at the front but the KTM bikes were very quick, so I had to rethink my strategy. I believed in my chances like never before and we did it. Jorge's absence is surely a shame, I hope he'll be back on the bike soon. I can say—even if it doesn't sound like a nice [thing] to say—that I made the most of the opportunity to get back into the title fight. We're all very close now, so we need to keep our heads down." of them not his fault; and regain the points lead from KTM rider Marco Bezzecchi two races ago at Assen. His lead is just seven points. Just over a year ago he also ruined a strong season with a crash at the Sachsenring. Martin is bound for Moto2 next year, so this is the Span- iard's last chance for a Moto3 title. CENTURY MAN Marc Marquez made his 100th MotoGP start at Brno, making the arithmetic easy for some percentage statistics. He didn't add to his 40-win total, making an even 40 percent, eas- ily a record in the four-stroke MotoGP era. The next-best is Casey Stoner, at 33.04 percent, although to be fair his statistics are spoiled by his first Briefly...

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