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/1510207
sion, Martin later stated there would be no more gambles in the final four outings. "From now on, we need to go with the same tire as our opponents," he said. Martin was the comfortable pre-race favorite after dominat - ing qualifying with Binder and Bagnaia just behind. But the fact Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) and Pol Espargaro (Tech3 Gas - Gas) were the only other men to choose the soft rear indicated this was a huge gamble. And knowing he could push at the beginning when others couldn't, it came as no surprise to see Martin exiting turn one out front, as Binder, Bagnaia and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) tucked in be - hind. Then came Di Giannantonio, up on Marquez, pushing to use the best of the soft early on, and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), while Zarco was a meager eighth. For a man who should have been fearful of a late tire drop off, Martin was tearing into the contest, his fastest lap on the third circuit nearly 0.4 seconds quicker than anyone else man - aged. Too much, too soon? All the while, Bagnaia looked shaky, coming under attack from Miller at turn 10 the first lap around, before retaking the place starting lap two. Then, Di Giannantonio was by the reigning champ the following lap, at turn two having disposed of Miller at his own corner the lap before. Then by lap five, Marquez was biting at his heels, after both he and Zarco had demoted Miller to seventh. But with Martin stretching the field apart, Marquez knew there was no chance of treat - their moment, and the #89—at one point 3.4 seconds ahead—to come back toward them. And so it proved. In what was another wacky weekend, when the feature race was moved to Saturday, and Sunday's revised Sprint was canceled due to dangerously high winds, Martin made his wackiest decision to date. As Michelin issued warn - ings the soft was untested beyond 20 laps of running, there was always the danger that the Spaniard—comfortably the fastest name throughout practice and the claimer of pole position by an astonishing 0.4 seconds—would run out of grip late on. Martin's leftfield choice stumped many of his rivals. Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati) called it "A completely crazy de - cision, completely unbelievable." Seven laps from the flag, Martin knew he was in trouble, as he found his drive grip gone. Soon the four riders—now pretty much together—were on him, attacking on the final lap to relegate him from first to fifth, a devastating late assault that swung the title race 23 points in Bagnaia's favor. Even more sickening was seeing Bagnaia produce another ride worthy of his status of World Champion. Outside the top 10 on Friday for the second week in succession, the current #1 used all his experience to remain calm during qualifying, then to hold back on Sunday when Martin was scampering clear. Acknowl - edging he had contrived to lose two races that should have been comfortable victories in succes - VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P67 YAMAHA "NEEDS 15 PRESEASONS" TO GET COMPETITIVE Saturday's main race was another sobering day for MotoGP's two Japanese manufacturers. Fabio Quartararo was the highest placed of them in 14th, with Marc Marquez a place behind in 15th—a grim real- ity at a track where they had previ- ously shared 14 premier class suc- cesses in the four-stroke era. And Quartararo sounded a pragmatic tone after this latest humbling. "We need 15 winters to really be like them," he said. "The chassis that we had in the past was magical; you could do whatever you wanted with the bike. Now it's not. Being realistic, next year, we will not fight for the championship. For 2025, I want a winning project." A CALENDAR MOVE FOR AUSTRALIAN GP? As the weather battered Phillip Island on Sunday there was clear frustration at the timing of this race. Weather is always unpre- dictable and can be far from ideal in Australia's early spring, leading to calls for MotoGP to come at the start of its season, rather than toward its end. But Chief Sporting Officer Carlos Ezpeleta warned, "The weather here is not very pre- dictable unless you're speaking about something like January and February, which is challenging for us for a number of reasons." Other obstacles to a change in date include the Australian Grand Prix Corporation's desire to run the Formula1 race in March or April, with MotoGP saved for the end of the year. MotoGP also has a commitment to begin its season Briefly...