had fought through from 10th
on the grid, and Alex Marquez
(Gresini Ducati). Like Indone
-
sia, Acosta's defensive riding
took on an epic quality as Miller
pushed for last-lap passes at
turns four (aptly named after
him, Miller Corner), nine and,
most spectacularly, very nearly
at the final turn 12. Yet the KTM
rider held firm for a third Sprint
podium of the year.
Sunday MotoGP
Bezzecchi's task was simple:
build up a gap big enough in
the first five laps before his first
long-lap penalty. That's what he
did, posting a formidable early
pace to break the group apart.
Only Fernandez and Acosta
could hold on.
There was agony for the
37,192 fans in attendance as
Miller lost the front of the Yama
-
ha and crashed out of fifth at Si-
beria on lap five. And there was
a change up front as Bezzecchi
took the first of his penalties,
losing 1.7 seconds and rejoin-
ing in third. That situation was
salvageable. But the hit from the
second LLP was not. He lost 2.1
seconds on lap seven and came
back in behind Quartararo, Alex
Marquez and Di Giannantonio,
who had breezed past the ultra-
impressive KTM test rider Pol
VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P71
than the South African's. "I really
enjoy my team," said Binder. "I
like everything exactly the way
it is. I'm happy. But I mean, you
know, sometimes things change,
and let's wait and see."
DUCATI HOPEFUL
OF MARQUEZ
VALENCIA RETURN
Ducati isn't ruling out a Marc
Marquez return before the end of
the season but insists there is no
pressure on a return date. The
recently crowned World champ
underwent surgery to repair the
acromioclavicular ligaments in
his right shoulder. "The injury is
quite bad," said team manager
Davide Tardozzi. "It doesn't allow
him to be in the next two races.
I think we are hoping that he will
be back for Valencia, but so far
we have to wait [to see] what will
be [shown in] the new scan and
what the doctors will say to him in
two weeks. "We cross our fingers
to have him in the last race of the
season and have him in the Va-
lencia test. But, again, we have to
wait to see what the doctors say.
We don't want to be in a rush."
Briefly...
Luca Marini (10) continued his top 10 pace on the Honda, but the surprise
was KTM's stand-in test rider Pol Espargaro, the veteran coming away
with a ninth and 10th place finish on Maverick Vinales' bike.
Jack Miller (43) put it
all on the line in front of
his home fans but came
up short, crashing out of
fifth place at the Siberia
corner on Sunday.
