P150
MotoGP
2018 FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON REVIEW
provide very (at times incredibly)
close racing—the MotoGP round
at Assen more resembled Moto3.
But it didn't suit everybody.
Former double Moto2 champ
Johann Zarco's second sea-
son on the Tech3 Yamaha was
disappointing. He was second
in Argentina, round two, and at
Jerez, the start of the European
season. But things started to
go awry after he qualified on his
second pole of the year at round
five in France, only to crash from
the front group in the early laps.
He seemed seriously detuned,
and wasn't back on the podium
again until a fairly lucky third at
the penultimate round.
Speaking of luck, he survived a
spectacular collision with Mar-
quez in Australia, at very high
speed and finished up sixth over-
all in the title, as top independent-
team rider.
This was at the expense of Cal
Crutchlow, by just 10 points. The
Briton won in the Argentine GP,
and was reliably the next-best
Honda rider to Marquez, although
a propensity for crashing some-
what undermined an otherwise
sterling performance. He was
back on the podium twice before
a crash at the same Phillip Island
turn one broke his ankle badly, rul-
ing him out of the last three races.
The other factory Honda rider,
Repsol's Dani Pedrosa, was
seldom anywhere near Marquez.
For the first time in 16 years, he
didn't win a single race. Nor even
make it to the podium. Dani, who
(Above) Andrea Iannone (29) showed
flashes of brilliance, including
battling for the win here at Aragon,
but it wasn't enough to save his job at
Suzuki. (Right) Alex Rins came of age
in 2018 with a string of late season
podiums. He'll be a dark horse for
wins next season.
