Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 15, 2013 Once Pedrosa (26) hit the front he was able to pull away to victory. Marquez was a little slow away from pole with a small wheelie, Cal Crutchlow from the other side of the front row got squeezed into the first corner; but Lorenzo and Pedrosa burst through from the second row to dispute the lead to and fro through the first right-left set - Lorenzo hanging on outside through the first to lead out of the second. Pedrosa attacked again two corners later, but the Yamaha rider hung on grimly, and for the first four laps. Then at the end of the fifth the Honda made a slingshot move down the back straight to take control firmly around the final fast hairpin. From then on, Pedrosa could just get on with it. Johann Zarco on the last lap. For Redding, it had all gone wrong when he was slowed in turn one when an over-enthusiastic Xavier Simeon "wiped out himself and [Alex] de Angelis in front of me. To run at the same pace as the leaders on the straights I needed to be with them like in the first start, not chasing to catch up." The title fight is intensifying. Redding has 224 points and Espargaro 215; Rabat is closing on 196. Kallio has 156, then comes Nakagami with 138. Tito Rabat won his third Moto2 Grand Prix of the season in Malaysia. Marquez started attacking directly: outbraking into turn one for starters. Lorenzo stayed put and barged back through the next right. It was the start of two laps of intense scrapping, every attack repulsed, and Lorenzo pushing him aside at least once. Marquez regrouped, then moved inside under braking on lap nine on the corner before the back straight. Again Lorenzo hung on outside, but the Honda was ahead, and Marquez laid claim to all the track. Lorenzo went onto the curb, but was obliged to back off. Both said later they'd enjoyed it, and clasped hands warmly on the slow-down lap. Lorenzo professed not to remember any contact. Marquez did, but laughed it off. "It P53 Briefly... similar to grass: but this freak accident where it had caused an injury would need to be discussed at the safety commission. Bradl, said Rossi, had been "very, very unlucky," but whatever it was that lined the track there, "I think they have to take it out tomorrow." Bradl's likely absence from Phillip Island triggered a storm of speculation in no way dimmed by insistent official denials – Casey Stoner to return as his replacement, to fight for a classic seventh home race win in a row. Honda team chief Livio Suppo was quick to deny any possibility, pointing out that Stoner was not race-fit and had only a few days of testing. If the rider requested it, they might reconsider, but no such request had been received. The story, however, had taken wings, with Marquez responding: "It would be a dream to ride with another World Champion;" and Rossi saying "I hope to be in great shape next weekend." Of the top three Cal Crutchlow said the opposite. "I hope he doesn't come back, because it means I'll finish one place lower." Stand by for an anonymous replacement instead, known only as The Stig. Far from recovering with time, Cal Crutchlow's damaged right arm became worse in Malaysia, the patch of gravel-rash still not healed, and the swelling returning with a vengeance. "I had some sort of explosion when my arm hit the curb at Silverstone," he said; and in spite of continuous treatment it had flared up. "It was okay at Misano and Aragon, but now I have some pain," he said. "Maybe it's the heat." continued on next page

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