MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 9 / AUGUST 3-5, 2018
BRNO CIRCUIT/ OSTROVAICE, CZECH REPUBLIC
P52
Dovi was more expansive
after the race, although still
matter-of-fact. "Nobody could
push at the beginning, and
that's why we were a bit slow.
At the end, I was expecting
Marc, because I heard his
engine, but then Jorge came
instead, and he was fast.
"I am very happy that I
could hold on. I didn't know
the level of the competitors,
because when you are leading
you can't see their strong and
weak points."
For Lorenzo, who had
dropped back to fifth midrace,
"I'd rather be first, but it was a
great race and a great result
Slightly surprisingly, after all
the talk of tire drop-off in the
heat (82° ambient, 105° ground,
compared with 89/122 in quali-
fying), all of the top three did
their fastest laps on the last lap.
Lorenzo was the best of them,
repassing Marquez on the run
down the hill, and all but making
his attack on Dovi stick as well.
Dovi's second win of the year
came after his first pole position
since 2006.
"I am more pleased with the
lap time than pole," he said. "It's
not my style."
Valentino Rossi led for the first
three laps, 22 years after he won
the 125cc race at the same track.
2019 TEST DATES
Test dates for the 2019 season have
been announced, reduced by one
compared with last year but with three
extra days at Sepang, described as a
"shakedown," three days before the
official session at the Malaysian circuit.
As well as the two days at Valencia on
November 20-21, after the final race
of 2018, there is an outing at Jerez on
November 28-29 before the winter
shutdown. Sepang hosts the shake-
down from February 1-3 and three days
of testing February 6-8; then the final
test at Qatar on February 23-25. The
smaller classes will test alongside Mo-
toE at Jerez on November 23-25; then
at the same track on February 20-22;
then Qatar, March 1-3.
Briefly...
