Cycle News

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 18 MAY 6, 2014 P45 Briefly... problem was in the changes of direc- tion. "In the race I hope it will take my mind off it." Jorge Lorenzo was lining up for his 200th GP at Jerez – a landmark achieved by only three other riders in the class, all previous World Cham- pions in at least one class. Andrea Dovizioso was starting his 208th race, Dani Pedrosa his 215th. No- body can hold a candle to Valentino Rossi, however, with start number 298. Yamaha has a new chassis for its factory riders, intended to improve braking performance - one area where they suffer compared with Honda. And it seemed to work, at least for Rossi, who said after the first day of practice: "I can brake 30 meters later." He stuck with it for Sat- urday's qualifying, just missing the front row, and said he would also race it. "It is something to improve the stability of the bike that looks like quite important," he said. "It's a small difference, but it is a good way to understand the way to work." Jorge Lorenzo had the same chassis, but found (according to team manager Wilco Zeelenberg) that it was neither much better nor much worse, so de- cided to stick with his two bikes as they were. "At the Monday tests we will do some back-to-back runs and get a better idea," said Zeelenberg. Another race, another new rule from the GP Commission. This one, however, doesn't turn the world of racing upside down, and is merely sensible. It affects races that are de- clared wet, allowing riders to pit to change bikes if they desire. When the flag-to-flag rule was introduced EDWARDS CAUGHT IN RUMOR MILL A rumor that Colin Edwards was to quit prematurely after the Spanish Grand Prix was rapidly denounced as "bullsh$t" by the Texan. The 40-year-old former two-time World Superbike Champion an- nounced his end-of- season retirement three weeks ago; the notion that he was to bail out sooner seems to have started with an ill-worded Italian TV interview with his NGM Forward team owner Giovanni Cuzari. It was reinforced by news that Italian NGM Forward Moto2 rider Simone Corsi was to test the MotoGP machine at IRTA tests the following day. Cuzari later said that his remarks (about an interest in Ioda rider Danilo Petrucci) had been miss-interpreted. Either that, or it was a veiled threat to dismiss the so-far under-performing American, whose teammate Aleix Espargaro - on an identical "Open" Yamaha M1 ex-factory bike - has been a leading light, among the works riders in every practice and qualifying. The next day, Edwards posted fifth-fastest time in morning free practice to secure a place in Q2 for the first time, and qualified 11th. Edwards chose his home GP to announce his long-deferred retirement, explaining that his efforts to adapt his style to the current generation of bikes and tires "didn't bring the improvement I wanted to see. Hell, I'm 40 years old and trying to change my style wasn't working. As soon as you get into an intense moment you go back to your instinct." Cuzari said that they would have their own chas- sis to test "in three or four races." A dispute with original chassis suppliers FTR remained unre- solved, but if that chassis was not forthcoming, "we will build our own," he told the Italian press. Edwards has several times said he is looking forward to a different chassis, having failed to gel with the Yamaha one. Colin Edwards: Not retiring yet! Alvaro Bautisa (19) battled with Andrea Dovizioso (04), Aleix Espargaro (hidden) and Bradley Smith (38) for fifth place, but at the line it was the factory Ducati taking the spot. continued on next page

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