Cycle News

Cycle News 2019 Issue 15 April 16

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1105267

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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 / APRIL 12-14, 2019 CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS P74 HONDA'S COPY Back at the dawn of their invasion of the motorcycle industry, the Japanese mantra was "copy, but improve." Honda has clearly not for- gotten the value of this. On the first day at COTA, one of Marquez's pair of factory Repsol Hondas emerged with a copy of Ducati's controversial swing-arm scoop. It is the same part with which HRC teased technical director Danny Aldridge in Argen- tina, proposing it first as a down- force device so that it was banned, but submitting it again the next day as a tire cooler, after which it was approved. Honda and all the other manufacturers except Yamaha had protested Ducati's use of the device at round one in Qatar, only to be overruled by the appeal court. We can expect to see other manufactur- ers copying in the races to come. STILL TALKING ABOUT CAL While jump-start victim Cal Crutchlow insisted he had "moved on" from the ride-through penalty that robbed him of a possible po- dium finish in Argentina, rival riders were torn between approval of a firm rule and sympathy for the dispro- portionate severity of the penalty. Crutchlow had inched forward on the start line, explaining that he was moving onto tip-toe, and seemed to have stopped again before the lights went out. The Stewards Panel, headed by new chairman Freddie Spencer, judged otherwise, and the 2018 Argentine GP winner was dropped to the back of the field as the consequence of the resultant ride-through—the penalty that is dictated by the rules. Rossi summed it up clearly on race eve, saying: Briefly... In the absence not only of his Repsol Honda but also that of his struggling teammate Jorge Lorenzo, coasting to a stop from a lowly 10th, with a hard-pressing Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) crashing out of third on the sixth of 20 laps, with Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnnow Ducati) pun- ished by a fourth-row start, and with Monster Yamaha's Maverick Vinales one of two riders penal- ized for jump starts, it was left to fan-favorite Valentino Rossi to take over the lead. But contrary to appearances and expectations, it wasn't to be the 40-year-old's first win since the Dutch TT in 2017. Although he could be happy with a second successive second place and a strong race with a strong pace, "my problem was that Rins was faster than me today." It was a game of high- speed chess between Rins (42) and Rossi (46), with the youngster getting the better of Rossi.

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