MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 6/JUNE 1, 2014
MUGELLO CIRCUIT/MUGELLO, ITALY
P80
He would do so many more times
today.
Rossi was picking up places
everywhere he could. By the end
of lap two he was up to fourth,
and two laps later past Iannone for
third. By now, he explained later,
Marquez was more than a second
ahead. Too much. All he could
do was match the leaders' pace,
close enough to watch the battle
ahead, but unable to get involved.
The gap had grown to more than
two seconds by the end. "I think I
had a chance, but I gave it away in
practice," Rossi said.
There was some early attrition
behind them. Monster Tech 3
Yamaha's Bradley Smith crashed
out on the third lap. The next time
around, Crutchlow and LCR Hon-
da's Stefan Bradl were also gone,
in a very lucky escape for each of
them.
The Ducati rider had an odd
problem: his front tire was inexpli-
cably gaining heat and pressure
and losing grip.
"Every time I opened the throt-
tle in the corner it would try to
tuck," he said later.
It happened terminally halfway
through an ess-bend. He landed
in the middle of the track and
MUGELLO
MADNESS
The MotoGP race might have been
a stunner, but once again the smallest
class provided the best racing of the
day. At half distance, the lead group
was still 15 strong, swapping back and
forth and belting down the straight four
or five abreast.
It might have been that way to the
finish, but for a last-lap indiscretion
by points leader Jack Miller that not
only split the group but took him and
his Red Bull KTM, frequent leader
Alex Marquez and blazing rookie Enea
Bastianini out of contention in a pall
of dust.
All sorts of people had led over the
line, including Miller, John McPhee,
Alex Rins, Bastianini and Romano
Fenati, but it was never by more than
Ianonne (29) and Dani Pedrosa (26)
battled for fourth place with Pedrosa
getting the spot. Iannone faded to
seventh.
