MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 51 ISSUE 15 APRIL 15, 2014 P41
like second-class citizens.
The second GP of the season,
at the Circuit of the Americas in
Austin, Texas, was yet another
suggestion that we're at the start
of another such era. At the venue
where last year he became the
youngest-ever premier-class GP
winner, Marquez showed utter
domination from Friday morning
Briefly...
decision," he said.
Cal Crutchlow revealed a hankering
for the simple life after a second suc-
cessive electronic failure on his new
Ducati left him bereft of power early
in the first free practice at COTA. It
had happened abruptly on the main
straight. "If anyone had been close
behind, I'd have been in big trouble,"
he said. "Usually you get some sort
of warning before a failure." A failed
transponder in the opening round at
Qatar left him struggling for control
for the full race. Friday's failure was
different, and though he didn't say
exactly what it was, he explained it
was a non-Ducati part also used on
helicopters, where an instant failure
like his would be a major problem.
The team new boy criticized the
complexity of Ducati's systems – the
team reverted to last year's factory
electronics for this race, after using
the Dorna-supplied control software
at Qatar, after their abrupt promo-
tion from Open to Factory option
category left no time to change for
that race. There was nothing wrong
with electronics in general, he said,
but he and crew chief Daniele Ro-
magnoli were accustomed to Ya-
maha's software, and were taking
time to adapt, while teammate An-
drea Dovizioso had a year's experi-
ence. "There are too many systems
on this bike," said Crutchlow. "We
need to make it more simple." A pos-
sible cause of the problem also left
the Ducati squad with something of
a cleanup operation, after water had
leaked into team flight crates, caus-
ing corrosion and condensation.
Texan racing superhero Kevin
There are jump-starts and then
there are jump-starts. Jorge
Lorenzo (99) launched a tad
early from the second row to lead
the MotoGP pack up the hill. He
incurred a ride-through penalty
and ended up finishing 10
th
.
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