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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1479419
positions by turn one, another one by turn two. But excite- ment soon got the better of him. Climbing the steep rise to turn three in sixth place, his rear stepped out, sending the rider out of the seat. Just behind, and lining up a cutback into the fol- lowing turn, championship lead- er Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) had nowhere to go and was sent sprawling after clattering into the Honda's rear. Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki) missed the Frenchman by inches, run- ning off track behind. The championship was turned on his head. And still Marquez's afternoon wasn't quite done. During the impact, a piece of Quartararo's front fairing had lodged itself somewhere in the bowels of the Honda. As the Catalan engaged his ride- height device on the exit of turn seven, the errant carbon fiber pressed against his rear tire, slowing him down and sending him veering to the left. On his outside, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) was caught unaware and collided with his stablemate, before falling off the side of his bike. For the second time in 30 seconds, the pack behind scattered, miraculously missing a stray rider sliding across the track. Six riders were forced off track at turn eight, while Mar- quez toured back to the garage to retire. Talk about returning to action with a bang. Up front and away from the mayhem, Bagnaia had enjoyed to their chances of collecting the Riders Championship. The last-lap battle may have thrilled, but the race's big talking points came just three and seven cor- ners in, with the title race taking on a wide-open complexion as a result. Even when still far from full bike fitness, few thought Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) would return quietly to racing just 107 days after the fourth ma- jor operation on his right arm. Starting from 13th, it took just 40 seconds for the story of a heroic return to go wildly off script. The eight-time champ was typically all-action off the line, gaining six another consummate start from pole position ahead of fellow front-row starters Jack Miller (Lenovo Ducati) and Bastianini, as well as Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing). In one turn, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) had worked miracles to climb from 10th to fifth. And after Bastian- ini's own moment through turn three, which forced Espargaro to lift, the South African was free VOLUME 59 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 P57 MYOWNRACE In turn seven, Nakagami overtook me and went wide, but when I went to engage the rear device, I felt like the rear was locking. Then everything happened at once as the bike was moving to the le with this lock- ing and I found myself touching with Taka. A er this I re red. I went to apologize to Taka and his team because his race was ended by the situa on we had. My apolo- gies to him and Fabio." 37 AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ 3RD MOTO2 "I am happy with this podium," Fernandez said. "We increased the advantage in the tle chase, so we are pleased about that. It is bi ersweet for me, because I wanted to fight for the victory and I pushed hard from the beginning. At the end of the race, I did not feel so comfortable and the front re prevented me from pushing more. Today was not the day to take more risks than necessary, but rather to score as many points as possible."