MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 16 / OCTOBER 19-21, 2018
TWIN RING MOTEGI / MOTEGI, JAPAN
P68
Marquez is crowned once again.
HP40 Kalex) was a lone third,
celebrating his 100th GP start.
Then, some two hours after
the race, the result was turned
upside down. Quartararo's team
had blotted his copybook, for
his bike had failed the technical
inspection—the rear tire pressure
was lower than the regulation
allowed.
The consequence was
radical. He was disqualified,
stripped of the win.
"The regulation says the
minimum tire pressure must be
1.4-bar. My tire was measured
at 1.39-bar, so, nothing," said a
devastated Quartararo.
This promoted everybody else
by one position, giving Bagnaia
an eighth win, and extending his
a morning warm-up spill, was an
early retirement.
Marquez is now invulnerable
on 296 points, but Dovizioso
(194) is now under threat from
Rossi (185): then Vinales (155)
likewise from Crutchlow (148).
Moto2
Fabio Quartararo took his Speed
Up chassis to a textbook second
Moto2 win at Motegi, resisting
constant pressure from cham-
pionship leader Pecco Bagnaia
(SKY VR46 Kalex), who had led
the first two laps. But with title
rival Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull
KTM) off the podium in fourth,
second was another valuable
boost to Bagnaia's title hopes.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons
less than two seconds down,
team regular Xavier Simeon only
a couple of tenths ahead of his
temporary teammate Jordi Tor-
res.
Dovi was 18th, clear of Scott
Redding (Aprilia), the distant
Tom Luthi (EG-VDS Honda) and
wildcard test rider Sylvain Guin-
toli (Suz).
Second Alma Pramac Ducati
rider Jack Miller qualified on the
front row, and had started well,
was running seventh when he
slipped off on lap nine. He was
one of a handful who chose the
soft rather than the medium rear
Michelin, another was Karel
Abraham (Angel Nieto Ducati),
who also crashed out. Aprilia's
Aleix Espargaro, battered from
