VOL. 55 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 18, 2018 P145
Many of these weren't actually
crashes as such: he was already
sliding on knee and elbow, and just
let go of the bike. Sometimes he
saved these situations, sometimes
not. Either way, he had used free
practice to establish exactly where
the limit was. Thereafter he could
dance around it at will.
Two things eased his path. One
was the best Repsol Honda RC213V
for years. For the past two seasons,
Marquez has needed to use talent
to make up for machine quirks, such
as over-aggressive throttle re-
sponse. This year, "I can ride it how
I like," he said early on.
The other was Andrea Dovizioso,
again his closest championship ri-
val, riding the best-ever Ducati Des-
mosedici. Dovi won the first race on
a bike with much-improved turning,
so that previous bogey tracks (like
fast-cornered Phillip Island) were
less of a problem. But he had to wait
until after the summer break to add
three more wins. He was knocked
off at Jerez in a three-bike sprawl
with Dani Pedrosa and teammate
Jorge Lorenzo. More costly, and
more uncharacteristic, were two
crashes by unforced errors at Le
Mans (from the lead) and Catalunya.
And maybe a third thing: Lorenzo.
After an underwhelming first year
at Ducati, he suddenly justified his
vast sign-on fee (a rumored $27
million). Thanks not only to ergo-
nomic changes (an extended dome
at the rear of the dummy gas tank)
that supported him better, but also
chassis revisions, Jorge got his
mojo working again big-time, and
