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VOLUME 56 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 P103 up onto the straight, driving past easily, and two laps later Miller did the same. "I knew we could fight for the po- dium," said Dovizioso. "I was ready to push from the beginning. I could be re- ally constant, make a good lap time, and be really strong to the end." The combination of solid tactics and vaulting horsepower was enough. Miller's third reflected growing matu- rity and tactical intellect. He'd been able to let Vinales go, confident that he'd have a chance to attack later in the race. "We did a lot of runs through the weekend, and I tried to stick to that and keep my pace," Miller said. "I switched maps really early to save the tire, which worked. Maverick came past trying to chase down Marc, and towards the end, he was struggling off the long corners. I kept my cool and brought her home." Front-row starter Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha) was outpaced but held a worthwhile fifth, which he had said earlier was his target. "We were NO POL Red Bull KTM rider Pol Espar- garo was ruled out of the Aragon GP after fracturing his wrist in a heavy fall in the final free practice session. Espargaro was testing a hard rear tire but didn't complete his out lap when he high-sided at the entrance to the famous "reverse corkscrew." At first, it was thought he had escaped serious injury, but sub- sequent investigation revealed a fracture to the radius bone in his left wrist, and he was ruled out of the race. TESTING, TESTING… Maverick Vinales was exercising the latest Yamaha modifications on the first day of practice with one of his pair of bikes fitted with the carbon fiber swingarm and the new twin-exhaust system already used in Italy by team- mate Rossi. The Spaniard had preferred to concentrate on race setup for his familiar bike at Mis- ano but now took the chance for a back-to-back test at the fresh track. On race day, however, he switched back to the more familiar aluminum swingarm and older exhaust and said he regret- ted having lost setup time after bad weather spoiled FP3. The components are the most visible in Yamaha's continuing recov- ery program, which saw them secure from second to fifth at Misano and second to fourth in the first free practice at Aragon, although over race distance they again suffered rear grip issues. The improvement, according to team manager Massimo Mere- galli, is a combination of small adjustments and improvements adding up to make a machine that can get closer to closing the small but previously hard- to-bridge margin. The biggest weakness remains a relative lack of top speed, an issue frequently mentioned by both factory rid- ers. "At the Valencia tests, we will be looking for more top end," Meregalli said. "But it is very hard to improve top power at the same time as keeping driveabil- ity, which is one of our strong points. So we will not go for more power and speed and spoil the driveability." LORENZO RUMORS Jorge Lorenzo was again fend- ing off rumors of an early end to his two-year Repsol Honda contract after a pain-ridden first season continues to limp along with the triple MotoGP Cham- pion struggling to score points at all, and only just avoiding coming last at Aragon, where he has won three times in the past. He had no thoughts, he told press, of quitting or retir- ing, and intended to see the project through. But he could not speak for HRC, from which some Spanish sources expect a cut-off decision. "Anything could happen," he allowed. Lorenzo's progress has been blighted by several crashes and a string of injuries, the first to his ankle after a controversial first-corner clash with Marc Marquez at Aragon one year ago. At the next race in Thailand, a mechanical failure threw him heavily off his Ducati, and he missed most of the end of the season. He broke his Briefly...