VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P71
to retake the lead.
The coupe de grace came
again at turn four, as Marquez
divebombed Martin on lap 25 of
27, then proceeded to eke out a
few precious tenths of a second
to cross the line the winner by
nine-tenths of a second after
Martin shut the throttle off on
the final lap.
"We had a big race today
against Martín and we had fun,"
Marquez said. "This win is surely
a confidence boost and we need
to follow on this type of results
in the last three events. I had to
remove one tear-off at the start
because I had a huge fly over
it that was preventing me from
seeing what was in front of me…
and then you all saw what hap
-
dispensing of Enea Bastianini.
As the race progressed,
Martin, Bagnaia and Marquez
formed a tight pack at the front.
A brief mistake from Martin al-
lowed Bagnaia to challenge him
at turn four, but Martin quickly re-
gained his lead, followed by Mar-
quez. With 10 laps remaining, it
became a head-to-head battle
between Martin and Marquez as
they distanced themselves from
Bagnaia, who was having yet
more rear grip issues.
In the final laps, Marquez
made his first move at turn four,
but Martin retaliated immedi
-
ately. With three to go, Marquez
crossed the stripe in first, but
Martin left his braking unbeliev-
ably late and scythed back past
ers. But at the same time, I think
it's good for next year that is an
important year for us to arrive as
ready as possible and try to be
100 percent in terms of physical
form."
MANUEL GONZALEZ
PRESENT IN
AUSTRALIA
Manuel Gonzalez was in Austra-
lia despite the controversy that
hung over his maiden Grand Prix
win in Japan. Reports surfaced
the week prior that the Span-
iard had lost his seat after his
Gresini Team's chief sponsor,
QJMotor, a Chinese motorcycle
manufacturer, demanded his
sacking as he donned a hachi-
maki (Japanese headband) on
the grid. Gonzalez revealed the
headband was given to him by a
Japanese fan over the weekend,
and he wore it as a sign of grati-
tude. He also insisted QJMotor
had not issued any instructions
to the team or riders to not adorn
anything with Japanese symbol-
ism, as CFMoto had instructed
the Aspar team. Instead, an offi-
cial Gresini team statement read:
QJMotor and Gresini Racing are
now running a positive discus-
sion, and it is expected every-
thing will be solved very soon."
Its Moto2 bikes were stripped
of QJMotor signage, which the
statement argued, was "a form of
respect towards China … Gresini
Racing Moto2 Team will race
unbranded the remaining four
rounds of the current season."
Briefly...
