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/1131259
VOLUME 56 ISSUE 24 JUNE 18, 2019 P69 after surgery to his right arm for arm-pump problems, "the adrenaline of my first podium meant I didn't feel anything. Only the last couple of laps were quite painful," the gleeful 20-year-old said later. It had been a strong affirma- tion of his second pole position of the year, and that he was fastest in all but one practice session. But it also meant he lost his last chance of deposing Marquez as the youngest-ever premier-class race winner. Rins soon regained momen- tum, while Miller's hopes of catching Petrucci and gaining the rostrum had now faded with his rear-tire grip. He had earlier succumbed to a charging Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), only for the Briton to fall off immediately after overtaking the Ducati. Now, Miller, had his hands full fending off the second Ecstar This left a lively battle for second, Petrucci at the head of it, but under constant pressure from not only pole starter Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha), but then all the harder from Alex Rins's Ecstar Suzuki. The faster Ducati held the clearly more nimble Suzuki at bay until the two made contact at the fast turn four as Rins pushed ahead on lap 14. Three laps later Petrucci had noticed that Rins was on the edge of adhesion. "We were in the same boat." He decided to attack, powered alongside on the front straight and out-braked him into turn one. Next time around Rins tried the same move, only to almost hit the Ducati, and run right off the track as he narrowly recov- ered, dropping to fifth. It was Quartararo who profited, and immediately put a close and hard move on Petrucci to take second. Less than two weeks PEDROSA BACK FOR KTM Dani Pedrosa will join the regular KTM riders—Pol Espargaro and the increasingly flummoxed Johann Zarco—at official post-race tests on Monday at Catalunya, after hav- ing his first outing on the Austrian machine at a private Brno test in the last week. The retired former Honda rider kept his lips zipped, declining to make any comment on the bike, but did say that he was sufficiently recuperated from the stem-cell col- larbone surgery that had delayed his debut as KTM's top tester. FOLGER BACK Jonas Folger made a racing return at Catalunya after being released from testing duties by Yamaha for a substitute ride for the Petronas Moto2 team. The German, five times a GP winner in the smaller classes, unexpectedly left racing at the end of his first premier-class season in 2017 and was subsequently diagnosed as suffering from the debilitating genetic Epstein-Barr virus. Before being hired to test for Yamaha this year, Folger was chief development rider for the now-dominant Kalex chas- sis for the newly Triumph-powered Moto2 class. This should give the 25-year-old a good leg-up in his rac- ing return, as a substitute for injured Petronas-Kalex regular Khairul Idham Pawi, who has been out since the start of the European season. Until now, his seat had been taken by veteran Mattia Pasini, but the Italian broke his collarbone in a motocross accident after the Italian GP. Still race-rusty, however, Folger qualified 23rd and finished 19th. Briefly... Formation flying for Team Suzuki. Alex Rins (42) would eventually get the better of his rookie teammate Joan Mir (36).