VOL. 50 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 12, 2013
ale
P45
Briefly...
More details have emerged about the
oh-so-costly Phillip Island error that
saw Marc Marquez black-flagged,
and the championship turned from a
foregone conclusion to a nail-biting
last-round decider. The finger pointed at the pit signaller, who instead of
displaying the "IN" sign at the end of
lap nine mistakenly showed the number 1, so the rider thought he had
one more clear lap. But was it his
error, or had he not been correctly
briefed? "It was a Honda mistake,"
said team director Livio Suppo.
Marc Marquez became the
youngest rider and the first
rookie since Kenny Roberts in
1978 to win the premier title in
the World Championship.
One of the main points of interest
for the first post-season test was Cal
Crutchlow's first taste of the Ducati
Desmosedici – his mount for the
next two years. The Brit was not expecting to break any records on a
bike that has been a disappointment
to all its riders for the past three years
or more. "I fully understand the reality of this. I'll just be getting used to
the bike. I'm excited, looking forward
to it – but don't expect any miracles.
I'm sure I'll say just the same as the
other riders," he said.
With ex-Aprilia tech guru Gigi
Dall'Igna joining the project at the
tests and given the task of turning round the red bike's fortunes,
Crutchlow said: "I believe that about
halfway through next year there'll be
something on the table. They will not
be changing the engine, but the rest
can be changed. I don't think the
engine is the problem anyway. The
thing's a rocket ship. The problem
is using the power, so some things
need to change."
Bridgestone's long-awaited new
harder-option rear tire – succontinued on next page
