Fernandez, Zarco and Martin,
once again up from ninth, just
behind.
The coast was further cleared
as Marquez soon came under
attack. First, Fernandez passed
into turn one before Zarco and
Martin both landed blows in a
chaotic turn five. And even if
Fernandez took the lead start
-
ing lap five, Acosta was back in
control four laps on.
By then, Marquez had really
found his groove. Returning fire
with fire, he made short work of
both Zarco and Martin before
slashing the 1.2-second deficit
to the lead pair. He calmly took
second from Fernandez starting
lap 10. Di Giannantonio came
back into it after a slow start, 2.4
seconds covering the top six.
tenths out of the Gresini rider
ahead.
Attempts at turns one, 10,
and 14 didn't pay off, with
Marquez far enough ahead to
avoid attack and take a maiden
Sprint win of the year. Acosta
made a proper race of it, getting
to within 0.041 of a second of
victory at the flag, making this
the closest Sprint race ever. Di
Giannantonio's late charge was
too little, too late, four-tenths of
a second back in third.
Sunday MotoGP
Knowing danger man Marquez
was the rider to beat, Acosta's
early tactics on Sunday were
clear: start well, lead and break
clear. He succeeded in leading
his compatriot on lap one with
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P77
It was a disastrous weekend for
all four KTM riders, including
the returning Maverick Vinales,
with each rider suffering major
mechanical issues at some point
on Saturday and Sunday.
MYOWNRACE
36 JOAN MIR
DNF/13TH MOTOGP
Joan Mir crashed out of the Sprint
and in Sunday's 12-lap final restart,
Mir was one of five riders penalized
under the tire-pressure rule. The
16-second time penalty dropped
him from second to 13th. "A really
tough day today," Mir said, "and first
of all I want to wish the best to Alex
Marquez and Johann Zarco, their
condition is the most important thing.
I made a great start to the race, and
I knew with this I had the chance to
fight for something great. The focus
was to stay right with Acosta and
then see what happened in the last
laps. It got quite exciting there at the
end! I hope that we can show this
speed at more and more circuits."
