Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 27, 2013 less than a tenth over the line. He had suffered, he said, at the beginning of the race, but "today was better than Indy, because the gap to the top is half. Unfortunately I was still 10 seconds back, another fourth place. We have to work. We won't give up," Rossi said. LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl had a relatively downbeat weekend, hunting edge grip and set-up through practice and on into the race. He was another 10 seconds away in sixth, but comfortably clear of the pursuit. This comprised the Marlboro pole contender as well, but ended up fourth, less than a tenth shy of Pedrosa. He too had expected more, but had wheelspin with his second new tire. "I wanted to improve by seven tenths for a fast lap, but we had so much spinning we went slower," Lorenzo said. The pace of the top men was close: he was planning a good start and to "overtake some riders at the beginning of the race" to make up for his second row. A surprise alongside him: improving class rookie Bradley Smith, He'd been sixth also at Assen; the difference now was a much smaller gap to pole - less than half a second. Changes to the front end took the credit, allowing him faster corner entry, "the way the Yamaha likes to be ridden." He'd out-qualified Valentino Rossi, who was on the third row again as he failed to keep up in the final session. "I did improve, but the other guys Ducati pair, glued together all race long, Andrea Dovizioso ahead of Nicky Hayden for the full distance. This time there were no last-corner collisions, and they were eighth and ninth, .3 of a second apart over the line. Energy TI Ducati B-team rider Andrea Iannone had been losing ground on them throughout, and claimed a lonely ninth another 15 seconds away. Power Electronics ART's Aleix Espargaro was 10th, again top CRT bike, but for a second race seriously challenged by a revived Colin Edwards, who had passed Cal Crutchlow put the Tech 3 Yamaha on pole position. improved more," Rossi said. Strong in free practice, the Italian legend was planning changes to improve his braking performance, still a problem with the softer construction front Bridgestone introduced last year. P69 Briefly... races later the former Moto2 World Champion was on pole at Laguna Seca, and claimed a career-first MotoGP rostrum for second place. The switch came at the behest of HRC, because Bradl was also testing the 2014 bike, which is not adapted for the Nissins, made by a Honda associate company. "Since the change you can see we definitely made an improvement – in bike setting, more feedback from my front tire, which was a problem at the start of the season. Step by step we could go some different ways setting-wise to get more corner speed and have much better confidence in the front on corner entry," he said. The reason was not immediately obvious, but had to do with feel, he said. "I am not allowed to speak so much about it, but that was what gave me confidence. I just had more feeling for the front." The revelation throws new light on the performance of second satellite Honda rider Alvaro Bautista, whose job includes race-testing Nissin brakes as well as Showa suspension, made by another Honda associate company. He is now the only MotoGP rider to use this equipment: the others all use Brembo brakes and Ohlins suspension. Moto3 rider Alan Techer has been penalized by six grid places after expert analysis revealed that he was using an ECU software map that "was not the official map supplied by the engine manufacturer," according to an FIM statement. It took time to establish the infringement, with analysis and confirmation from Dell'Orto, the official continued on next page

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