VOLUME 56 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 5, 2019 P69
Lorenzo (Repsol Honda) was 14th,
a couple of 10ths ahead of Mika
Kallio (Red Bull KTM); the former
triple MotoGP champion's first
points since the San Marino GP
five races ago.
Syahrin and Abraham trailed in;
Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) joined the
crash list.
Marquez's 395 points is a new
18-race record; Dovizioso (256)
was already safe in second. Vina-
les took over third from Rins, 201
points to 194, with the position still
open. Petrucci has 176.
With both rider and constructor
titles decided, interest is focused
on the Team's prize, where
Repsol Honda is two points adrift
of Ducati. The difference is that
almost all Honda's points have
Almost three seconds behind,
the factory Ducati of Danilo
Petrucci completed an undistin-
guished race, then Mir completed
the top 10.
There were some heated
skirmishes for the last points, with
Pol Espargaro on the lone fac-
tory Red Bull KTM battling with
brother Aleix on the Aprilia. Pol
had been troubled with poor rear
grip all weekend, and succumbed
to the Aprilia for a couple of laps,
although regaining 11th with two
laps to go.
Aleix's complaint was familiar,
a lack of acceleration, and on the
final lap, he dropped back, only
to lose another place to Pecco
Bagnaia's Pramac Ducati.
Three seconds away, Jorge
QUARTS' NEW BIKE
As predicted, superstar MotoGP
rookie Fabio Quartararo is to have
a full "A-spec" factory Yamaha M1
next season, as a reward for his
glamorous debut season.
The news was confirmed on the
first day of the sponsor Petronas'
home GP at Sepang, after what
team principal Razlan Razali de-
scribed as "an incredible first sea-
son for Petronas Yamaha Sepang
Racing Team in MotoGP." Ac-
cording to the team's statement:
"This new agreement means that
both Franco Morbidelli and Fabio
Quartararo will run with equal
machinery next year."
LORENZO AND THOSE
RUMORS
The "Jorge Lorenzo to retire"
rumors continued in Malaysia,
with both rider and Repsol Honda
team continuing to deny that
there are any such plans. But with
Johann Zarco already faster than
the triple MotoGP Champion in
only his second ride on the Hon-
da, the expectations that HRC is
considering slotting the French-
man into the factory team in
Lorenzo's place next year simply
won't go away. Repsol team man-
ager Alberto Puig told Dorna that
Honda had no plans to dispense
with Lorenzo prematurely. "The
rider must decide. We are told he
can improve, and we are trying to
help him," he said. But Puig set
tongues wagging with frequent
visits to the LCR team pit, where
quixotic French star Zarco got
straight into Q2, qualified ninth
and was disputing eighth in the
race when he was knocked off by
Joan Mir.
Briefly...
