Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 22 JUNE 4, 2013 after modifications in the morning had improved the feel of the front considerably. On lap 17 he finally found a way past Dovi for two laps after the pair had been back and forth a couple of times, and was nibbling at Bradl's back wheel. Then Dovi came back, but the trio was still locked in combat. With two laps left, though, the American ran into trouble. "I had really bad chatter from the rear," Hayden said. "I thought the tire had chunked or we had a problem with the rim – we've had trouble with the wheels earlier this year." He backed right off. "I didn't know what was wrong, and all I wanted to do was to get to the finish." Immediately after the race the tire appeared to be fine, however, and the team was still looking for the answer. Bradl and Dovi were at it to the end, changing places four times on the last lap. Fourth went to Bradl by two tenths, his best result of the year. The best also for the Ducati pair - in fifth and sixth. A long way back Ducati test rider Michele Pirro had finally got past Alex Espargaro's Power Electronics ART CRT bike and pulled clear by a couple of seconds. Espargaro was just four tenths ahead of a battered Bradley Smith and his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha. The Brit had closed earlier then lost four seconds surviving a trip through the gravel. Avintia Blusens FTR Kawasaki's Hector Barbera snatched 10th from Randy de Puniet's Power Electronics ART on the final P75 Briefly... you lose." Marquez crashed in the gravel in free practice one, had his high-speed prang in FP2, and fell again in FP3, in the gravel, and again obliged to jump off before hitting the wall, but only at low speed. The new qualifying system caused several other casualties at Mugello, with unpredictable weather forcing riders to take chances on slick tires on a cold and still partially damp track to avoid being relegated from the top 10. This year's rules split qualifying into two levels. The top 10 on combined times of the first three of four free practice sessions automatically go into the senior category for qualifying; the rest have an early session of their own, with the top two then having another chance with the big boys. The first session started with damp patches and riders on wet tires, but gradually improved. The first to suffer was Andrea Dovizioso. "I put slicks on like everybody, but unfortunately I made a small mistake. Turn one was a bit slick, my line was not normal – a bit too long. I tried to make the corner. That was my mistake." He was left with a stiff neck that caused disproportionate problems. "My problem is not big, but on the bike it is a disaster. I can't turn my neck. The worst point is the main straight. I can't look straightforward; I have to look down and up. And in turn one, on the entry you turn your head to the maximum on the entry, and I couldn't turn my neck. I am close to not riding, but I don't want to watch the Mugello race from my pit box." In the drier afternoon, as well as Marquez, Bradley Smith also fell through pushing too hard for a time on a fresh tire that wasn't quite ready. "I got a little bit too excited," he said. He fell on the exit from the Casanova-Savelli fast right-left combination, and was chased into the gravel by his Monster Yamaha. His left hand was trapped under the bike as he fell. "I was trying to pull it out, but at the same time trying to push the bike away from me," he said. He was left with a badly skinned little finger that will require a skin graft, some tendon damage, and two small fractures - though it turned out that one of them was an old injury that had not been detected. Smith had a gruesome comment after qualifying. "I came in and the bone had cut through the dressing on my finger, so it was all open. I need an operation, but I am going to try and race tomorrow. If you play with motorsport, you have to deal with these things from time to time." Smith had an almost identical crash in race-morning warm-up, lucky not to exacerbate his injuries. Ducati teamster Nick Hayden also described a few lucky escapes. "In FP1 maybe I was a bit early putting on slicks, but the way qualifying is now maybe it was the only chance to get a time. It was a bit sketchy." Nicky Hayden's right hand is still swollen and troublesome, and he is expecting to have a repair screw inserted in pre-season surgery removed after the end of the year. "It's still a bit sore," he admitted, and it's not getting a lot better. The bone has healed, but there's still pain and swelling. Some doctors have said before, that taking the screw out might help. It's the scaphoid, and I continued on next page

• Cover