VOL. 55 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 11, 2018 P51
know why," Crutchlow said.
Crutchlow, for once, now had
the benefit of clear air ahead
and no risk of his front tire
overheating because of bikes
in front, though, "I'd rather have
been in the front battle, and
managed it." He had a lonely
ride to an eventual third, his first
podium since victory in round
two in Argentina.
Rins had continued to lose
ground, but while Vinales had
closed right up he wasn't able
to do anything more. After five
laps, Dani Pedrosa, the Repsol
Honda up from 11th on the grid,
had displaced Rossi and was
pressing the Yamaha. He too
would never get past, but was
comfortably clear of Rossi by
the finish.
Nor was there anything more
the two, that's what he was
doing again. But he remained
poised on Lorenzo's back
wheel, and when the Ducati
rider pushed on lap 24 to cut
Dovi's lead to less than two sec-
onds for an end-of-race charge,
Marquez went with him.
Thus, he had a grandstand
seat when the Ducati bounced
under braking at Querca corner
(Turn 8), ran a little wide on the
entry, then tucked the front and
slid away.
Vinales had been leading
the pursuit when Miller fell, but
soon succumbed to a charging
Alex Rins' Ecstar Suzuki, up
from the fourth row of the grid.
He had Crutchlow in his wake,
and on lap nine, "he looked
over his shoulder in a corner
and gave me his place. I don't
ROMANO FENATI'S
BRAIN SNAP
Hot-tempered Italian Moto2 rider
Romano Fenati made a shocking
midrace attack on rival Stefano Manzi
in retaliation for an over-ambitious
passing move that put the Kalex
rider off the track and out of a points-
scoring position. In the full gaze of the
cameras, Fenati caught up his Suter-
mounted compatriot, pulled alongside,
then leaned across to squeeze his
front brake lever. Manzi swerved, but
did not crash. Fenati promptly earned
a black flag and was subsequently
suspended for two races. See Wind
for more on the Fenati's incident.
MARQUEZ'S
MIRACULOUS
MARATHON
Marc Marquez's Q2 sprint from gravel
trap to pit box (which included a ride
on a photographer's scooter in be-
tween the leg work), and his subse-
quent narrow escape from another
crash on his final run, were even more
heroic than was obvious. It was all
accomplished with a small stone in
his eye, which he blamed for not be-
ing able to improve his time. "On my
second flying lap, I was pushing hard
when I lost the front," he said. "I was
angry with myself because I knew I
could improve a lot—I had a margin."
He'd rushed back to the pit "so fast
that only when I jumped on the bike
did I realize I had something in my eye,
and then I lost a bit my concentration.
I did a few mistakes and wasn't very
precise, so I didn't make a perfect lap,
even if the adrenaline was there."
BACK TO MISANO
Rossi kept up his tradition of a special
helmet for home GPs, with his AGV
Briefly...
Valentino Rossi's
special helmet
didn't give him any
extra speed as the
veteran came home in
seventh.
