VOL. 50 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 22, 2013
P67
Briefly...
gering rumors of a possible MotoGP
comeback, which had been triggered by a trio of private tests with
Honda in his first retirement year, as
well as his disillusionment with his attempt at V-eight car racing in Australia. He admitted he had considered
a home-race wild-card ride after his
sixth win here last year, "but we decided against that quite some time
ago." He'd spent too much time off
the bike, and there was not enough
testing.
"Honestly I have no wish to return,"
Stoner said. "Next year I will have
the year off that this year was meant
to be." Asked how he would like to
be remembered, he said: "Each to
his own. Some will remember me
as a loud-mouthed Aussie, others
as someone who was honest. Take
your own opinion."
Rossi (46), Cal Crutchlow (35) and
Alvaro Bautista (19) had another
good scrap over what would end
up being the final rostrum spot.
Alex Rins (42) leads his
teammate Alex Marquez (12)
en route to winning the Moto3 race
– the only race on the day to go full
distance at Phillip Island.
onds to less than three hundredths in a
stirring catch-up ride.
The championship got closer again:
Salom has 300 points, Rins 295, Vinales 278. Marquez is fourth on 175, then
comes Folger with 147.
swap, already vaulting off his
first bike before it had stopped.
It made little difference when
he was instructed to drop one
place, having touched the white
line on the extended pit exit: he
let Marquez through, only to get
the place back again when his
teammate was disqualified.
Marquez stormed out of the
pit, but a bit later smilingly took
it on the chin, his only consolation the lap record, and the
knowledge that, "I am happy on
my bike, and I know we are on a
good way."
Bad luck, or bad mechanicking?
Dani Pedrosa found yet another
freak mechanical hoodoo at Phillip
Island, when he suddenly slowed on
his second lap of his final exit near
the end of Friday afternoon practice.
As he pulled off, something long and
thin could be seen projecting from
the side of his bike, which had struck
sparks on the preceding run round
turn two. It looked like a loose sidestand, but it was in fact a long engine-mounting bolt, that had worked
its way right out. The consequences
could have been catastrophic, but
"I heard a strange noise, so I pulled
over," said the rider, who seemed
more disappointed at losing set-up
time than the implications of what
seemed certain to be blamed on a
mechanic's error. Another possibility
is that the through-bolts are only lightly fastened, to adjust the flexibility of
the chassis. Pedrosa was victim of
continued on next page
