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/144092
ROUND 8/JULY 14, 2013 SACHSENRING CIRCUIT/SAXONY, GERMAN MOTOGP P52 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP second bike – I'd hardly ridden it all weekend – just didn't feel right. I wasn't able to really race." Ignite Ducati's Michele Pirro followed a few seconds behind, in danger at the end of getting caught by the next CRT battle, between Avintia Blusens FTR Kawasaki's Hector Barbera and Power Electronics ART's Randy de Puniet. The Spaniard had reversed their positions with eight laps to go, after they'd both caught and passed faststarting Danilo Petrucci. Petrucci also succumbed to Colin Edwards by the end; while the American's teammate Claudio Corti took the last point. Marquez set the fastest lap - two tenths short of Pedrosa's 2011 record. The championship took on a different complexion, with the two top scorers absent. Marquez's win gave him the lead for the second time this year, with 138 points to Pedrosa's 136. Lorenzo stayed on 127; Crutchlow now has 107, and Rossi sits fifth with 101. CN MotoGP 1. Marc Marquez (Honda) 2. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 4. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 5. Alvaro Bautista (Honda) 6. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 7. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 8. Aleix Espargaro (ART) 9. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 10. Michele Pirro (Ducati) Briefly... Brivio, who hopes not only to continue running the test team, but also to join the factory in its racing return, running the team out of his native Italy. The question of a rider is currently somewhat vexed. De Puniet has confirmed he would prefer to remain a full-time racer rather then a tester, while Cal Crutchlow's interest in joining the factory team faded when the delayed entry was announced. Ducati's continuing search for the Holy Grail meant that four riders started the weekend with four different bikes, but only for the first four laps of the first free practice. That was when Andrea Dovizioso crashed his new development bike at the notorious Waterfall corner, bending the one-off chassis that was itself a development of the test bike that Michele Pirro was racing in the Pramac team. Teammate Andrea Iannone was on a slightly different development chassis, with Nicky Hayden on the original. In testing at Misano the week before, Dovizioso had found some small advantage in corner entry with the new bike, and though only one chassis was available he decided to risk using two different bikes at the Sachsenring. "We are not fighting for the championship, so development is more important," he said, admitting: "When I joined Ducati I knew we would need some time, but we need more time than I expected." Team chief Paolo Ciabatti explained: "It is quite complicated – we have so many different bikes, but in our situation it is important to keep developing." Moto2 championship leader Scott Redding is close to signing up with the Gresini MotoGP team for next season, to ride alongside Alvaro Bautista – but on one of the new productionracer RC213V replicas. It gives a chance to stay with the team for 2015 on a full factory bike, but at this stage only a one-year contract is on offer, according to a source close to the rider. Too big for Moto2, the French and Italian Moto2 winner has limited choices for his MotoGP plans. His current Marc VDS team has said it would consider moving up to the big class with a production-racer if nothing else could be found, but the main aim of that team is to develop young riders in the smaller classes. Yamaha's deadline for orders for their lease engine came and went at the Sachsenring, with no confirmation from the factory whether they had found any customers. But sources close to the team revealed that at least one squad is close to final agreement – NGM Forward Racing, currently fielding Colin Edwards and class rookie Claudio Corti. Yamaha Racing chief Lin Jarvis confirmed before the weekend that the minimum number of orders that would allow them to proceed would be for two riders. If Edwards stays with the team next year, getting back to Yamaha power would fulfill his oft-expressed wishes. He tried to engineer an engine-lease deal when he joined the CRT team last year.