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/1174582
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 17 / OCTOBER 4-6, 2016 BURIRAM CIRCUIT / BURIRAM, THAIL AND P68 and put the power on earlier. "Of course, I'm happy—really proud of my team and my race. If I hadn't tried that move, I wouldn't go home happy," Marquez said. The pair had quickly out- stripped Maverick Vinales (Monster Yamaha), who again suffered rear grip problems in the early laps. He was closing again towards the end, more than halving a gap that had been three seconds to 1.3. But, once again, he was too far behind to make a difference. He could still say, feat, pushing the MotoGP king to the line in only his 15th premier- class race. It had been better than a similar fight at Misano because although he had passed Marc back there on the last lap, he wasn't still fighting at the end. This time, he did. "I didn't go into that corner so fast all weekend, but I knew that there wasn't gravel on the outside, so it was possible to go wide if it was too fast." In fact, he stayed inside track limits, but Marquez was able to run inside MORE REVS, PLEASE Fabio Quartararo's growing strength was rewarded with a technical concession from Yamaha—an extra 500 rpm available. Enough, said the rider, to "make a small differ- ence over race distance." It was a factor of knowing potential engine life, and with only five races left, in- cluding the Thai GP, having enough leeway to risk losing one, according to Petronas team manager Wilco Zeelenberg. In fact, Quartararo's engine use has been modest, perhaps because of his previous rev restriction. Only he and Jorge Lorenzo (who missed four races) are still on their fifth engine of an allocation of seven. Most of the rest, including Marquez, Rossi, Dovi and both Suzuki riders, have now broken out their sixth, while Mav- erick Vinales and Tito Rabat have now started using number seven. Concession-team riders get nine engines, and while most KTM and Aprilia riders are on their seventh, Aleix Espargaro is on number eight. Riders exceeding the allocation suf- fer a pit-lane start. ZARCO TO YAMAHA Johann Zarco's time in the wilder- ness is over. Although the double Moto2 Champion will not have a full-time MotoGP ride next year, he has been offered the role of official Yamaha tester, and French sources indicate that he has ac- cepted. Yamaha Racing chief Lin Jarvis confirmed that a firm offer had been made, and he expected an announcement "before the end of the flyaway rounds. "We want to upgrade our test-team program next year, with more contact between Briefly... (Above) Andrea Dovizioso (04) and Alex Rins (42) simply didn't have the pace of the top three. (Right) Pol Espargaro rode through the pain barrier to finish 13th, ahead of Miguel Oliveira and Andrea Iannone.