MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 5/MAY 18, 2014
CIRCUIT BUGATTI/LE MANS, FRANCE
P48
MILLER MUSCLES WAY TO TOP
No one could ask for more exciting
racing than this year's Moto3 battle.
No one could expect a more deter-
mined and hard-fought win than Jack
Miller, the Red Bull KTM rider's third in
five races.
It was achieved with maximum
muscle and in spite of a top-speed
disadvantage, by less than a 10
th
of a
second, with the first six over the line
in less than a second. Miller looked
to have been struggling with grip, with
several out-of-saddle moments, but
said later: "That was just me, trying to
get on the gas a bit earlier."
Estrella Honda's Alex Rins had
much of the leading, after taking over
from Miller on lap five. But it was in the
closest company, with Efren Vazquez
always a major threat on his always
surprisingly fast SaxoPrint Honda,
sweeping past time and again on the
straight.
The last three laps take up almost
a whole page of notebook, with the
number of overtaking moves. Many
were by Miller, who would lose it again
on the next straight only to outbrake
his rival (mainly Vazquez) again at the
very next corner.
On the last lap it happened again,
then Miller firmly closed the door
through the right at the end of the
back straight, and Vazquez ran wide,
going from a potential win to sixth at a
stroke, and angrily but unsuccessfully
demanding a penalty for Miller after the
race.
Rins was right there in second;
Calvo KTM's Isaac Vinales a couple of
tenths behind in third. Then another
.2 of a second to Sky VR46 KTM rider
Francesco Bagnaia, who got the better
of an unusually timid Alex Marquez at
the finish. Vazquez was almost along-
side and rookie Enea Bastianini was a
close seventh. Bagnaia also set a new
lap record.
Pol Espargaro ended up an impressive fourth after qualifying on the front row.
