MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 2/APRIL 13, 2014
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS/AUSTIN, TEXAS
P42
all the way to Sunday afternoon.
"It was a different race for me:
I have never led from start to fin-
ish," he said later. "It was quite
difficult to keep concentration."
The only rider able to chase
at all was Repsol Honda team-
mate Dani Pedrosa, playing the
role that Alex Criville had filled for
Doohan.
Marquez, for a second race,
had been the only rider on the
hard tire. Pedrosa chose the
softer (quirkily, for this race only,
last year's model – see Briefly…),
only to seek some possible ad-
vantage by being different from
his teammate.
"I could have raced on either,"
he said. It didn't work. "Marc was
just too fast for me today," he ad-
mitted manfully.
The COTA circuit is an interest-
ing challenge, with a 3.4-mile lap
that undulates through a variety
of corners. Three are taken in
first gear – one of them following
the longest (.7 of a mile) straight
of the year. Braking and accel-
eration are paramount here. But
other parts – notably the slalom-
like early section – require a quite
different handling compromise.
Given the importance of those
swerves, it was more than sur-
prising to see an understeering
Repsol Honda's
Dani Pedrosa was
the only rider close
to his teammate
Marquez.
