VOL. 55 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 P65
and fast rookie Joan Mir (EG-
VDS Kalex).
A couple of seconds behind,
veteran Mattia Pasini (Kal) man-
aged to hold off Fabio Quar-
tararo (Speed Up) and front-row
starter Jorge Navarro (Kal) to
complete the top 10. Luca Marini
(SKY VR46 Kalex) was less than
a second behind, with Simone
Corsi (Tasca Kalex) some three
a good starting position, and
today I tried to conserve the tires
for the end. But it turned out a
lot harder than I'd expected to
pass Alex."
Red Bull KTM teammate
Miguel Oliveira also had a strong
ride, but starting from 18th on
the grid meant he could get no
higher than a close seventh, be-
hind front-row starter Schrotter
one-second cushion that he had
stretched to 1.5 by the finish.
By lap six, Lorenzo Baldas-
sarri (Pons HP40 Kalex) had
also got ahead of Schrotter, who
would continue to lose ground,
and he closed on the front trio.
Then Bagnaia clipped Binder's
back wheel on lap 13, giving his
friend and compatriot Baldas-
sarri a chance to get past.
Although Binder checked out,
the other three were fighting
to the end. Bagnaia displaced
Marquez with three laps to
go, while Baldassarri and the
Spaniard were fiercely engaged
until the Italian got the better
of him on lap 20 to deny him a
home podium. Second to fourth
were over the line in less than a
second.
"All weekend I worked towards
the race," said Binder, who had
found a key to improve his bike
in tests at Valencia. "I left noth-
ing on the track yesterday to get
Cal Crutchlow crashed. Again.
Aleix Espargaro (41)
had a stellar ride to
sixth place.
