MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 18 / NOVEMBER 1-3, 2019
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / KUAL A LUMPUR, MAL AYSIA
P68
he was on the Ducati's back
wheel and pushing.
Trouble was coming from
behind, with Joan Mir (Ecstar
Suzuki), 14th on the grid, having
just passed the fading—and soon
to fall—Cal Crutchlow's LCR Cas-
trol Honda, and closing fast.
But as he tried to slip inside
Zarco, he instead slammed into
him and sent him flying. Mir
directly afterward passed Miller,
but with two laps left was given a
long lap penalty, and the Aus-
tralian was back in a now lonely
eighth.
"My first lap was a disaster—I
couldn't stop the bike, which was
an issue we hadn't had all week-
end," Quartararo said.
Miller's early charge went bad
with unexpected front rather than
rear tire drop-off early on, and as
he fought to avoid losing places,
he survived not only several mo-
ments but also a big clout from
Rins, whose Suzuki lost a wing in
the process. Curiously, this didn't
seem to affect the performance.
After 12 laps, Miller had
dropped back to eighth and
was fully engaged, trying to stay
ahead of Johann Zarco, having
a strong second race on the ab-
sent Nakagami's 2018-spec LCR
Honda. He'd started from eighth
after making it straight into Q2,
and dropped back to 10th. Now
IIIMY OWN RACE:
9 DANILO PETRUCCI
9TH MOTOGP
"It was another very difficult race: I
was making a comeback towards the
end, but in the last five laps, I felt a
very strong vibra on at the rear, and I
couldn't con nue pushing hard. In the
race, I struggled a lot because my back
is s ll hur ng a er last Sunday's crash
in Australia, and I couldn't do anymore.
It's a pity about the problem I had at
the end of the race, but in any case, I
tried to bring home the best result."
(Above) Andrea Dovizioso just held
off a charging Valentino Rossi for
third. (Right) It was far from the
happy home party for the Petronas
team of Franco Morbidelli (21) and
Fabio Quartararo (20).
