VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P97
There was little else of inci-
dent in one of MotoGP's less
memorable encounters of the
year. As Miguel Oliveira (Track
-
house Aprilia) explained, "Aero-
dynamics allow us to go faster,
but you can only brake so hard.
Brake temperature and front-tire
pressure [increases and] over-
taking is harder."
Binder was fifth and top KTM
at the flag. Bezzecchi was sixth,
his best result since Jerez in
June, ahead of Vinales, the best
of the Aprilias thanks to a gutsy
move on teammate Espargaro
at turn nine on lap 20. Morbidelli
recovered to eighth, while Espar
-
garo was unable to replicate his
Sprint heroics when he finished a
brilliant third. A day on and over-
heating front-brake discs left him
ninth. Alex Marquez was 10th.
After losing his lead at Silver
-
stone, Bagnaia (275 points) is
followed on laps six, seven and
eight. Then he was quickly part
of the fight for fourth, with Bind
-
er gradually stretching out on
Bezzecchi and Miller. The Aus-
tralian saved the Catalan some
graft by tucking the front at turn
two the 11th time around, a lap
on from Marc Marquez almost
running into the rear of his
RC16, elbowing Miller's rear tire
as he attempted to stop for the
chicane.
By lap 17, Marc Marquez had
disposed with Bezzecchi at turn
two before he could cut it tight
on Binder, entering turn six on
the following lap to take fourth.
Yet that would be the end of his
run, as 8.5 seconds of tarmac
lay between him and Bastianini
in third. Not even a rider of his
gifts could close that, even if he
ran almost Bagnaia's pace in the
final 12 laps.
(Right) After a
miserable race
start, Marc
Marquez managed
to work his way
from 14th to
finish in fourth on
Sunday. (Below)
Enea Bastianini
(23) had a solid
weekend and was
fourth in the Sprint
race and
third on Sunday.
