ROUND 16/OCTOBER 20, 2013
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT/PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
MOTOGP
P68
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Bradley Smith (38) rode well to finish sixth.
Some way behind, Rossi also credited his fast swap – plus a second
bike that was far better balanced – for
his third place, marking a return to
the podium at a track where has five
wins in a row. He'd been stuck behind
Crutchlow and Bautista, but came out
of the pits ahead of them.
From there he had a fun race and a
stirring to and fro battle with Crutchlow,
Bautista in close attendance.
They were still together at the flag,
third to fifth covered by less than two
tenths of a second. Crutchlow also
spoke of being unsighted in the heat
of the contest.
"I didn't see my pit board, and I
thought there was one lap more."
Behind them, Smith rode a solid
race to a creditable sixth.
Nicky Hayden, like Rossi a fan of
the track and of flag-to-flag races, also
profited from a quick turnaround. He'd
been lodged behind Marlboro Ducati
teammate Andrea Dovizioso and Energy TI Ducati rider Andrea Iannone, in
spite of having a better pace. He overtook them both in the pits and cleared
off, closing on Smith, but then dropping away again at the finish.
Iannone beat Dovizioso by inches
for eighth.
For once Aleix Espargaro was not
top CRT rider, as Power Electronics
ART teammate Randy de Puniet hit
belated top form. He caught and harried the Ducati pair ahead of him, and
was still just two seconds behind at the
close.
Espargaro was 11th; Colin Edwards
