Cycle News

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 22 JUNE 3, 2014 P81 had a scary time struggling to his feet to run to safety. His bike, meanwhile, cut back across the track and slammed into Bradl, sending him flying for a second time that day (he crashed alone in warm-up) and a third time that weekend. Crutchlow hastened to apolo- gize; Bradl simply pronounced himself "speechless." But the focus was on the front, where Lorenzo was racking up the laps, and Marquez following closely. Marquez seemed to be biding his time, as in Argen- tina, but he said later: "I was on the limit, taking a lot of risks." But he knew when the tires started sliding more and Lorenzo's corner-speed advantage was reduced he could be stronger, he explained. He had another card up his sleeve. "This morning we put in a slightly higher sixth gear, so I could slipstream and get more top speed at the end of the straight." That's exactly what he did, appearing to simply mo- tor past the Yamaha at the start of lap 18. Surely that was it: game over. Not in Lorenzo's view. "We made some improvements to the bike here es- pecially for braking, and it was a good step," Lorenzo said. "But the real difference was that I felt strong, my Briefly... dry, and Sunday even better. Jorge Lorenzo has blamed his poor form at the opening rounds not only on new tires that don't suit his style, and not only on a Yamaha that needs improvement. A frequent refrain has been "my physical condition." At Mugello, he explained. He had sur- gery in the winter, which delayed his training program. "I couldn't train for months in a row. I thought when I started to train it would be enough, but it was too late. I am unfit com- pared with last year." In addition, problems with arm cramps. "I can't find the perfect leathers for my arms. There is an area where the circula- tion is not right," he said. Mugello, his favorite track, was a landmark 300th GP for Valentino Rossi – but qualifying didn't go as planned, when he ended up 10th, on an inch or two, and usually different by the time they'd reached the first corner. It would all come down to last-lap tactics, and Miller's turned out to be badly flawed. Which wasn't necessar- ily difficult, given the crowded circum- stances and the youth and despera- tion of the assembled company. Fenati led onto the last lap, from Marquez, Rins, Miller, Alexis Mas- bou, Bastianini and the rest. By now Miguel Oliveira, who qualified 19th, had picked his way through one place at a time. They were still swapping around down the hill and up the other side. And then it happened. Miller touched Oliveira's back wheel, picked the bike up and was clipped by Marquez. Bas- tianini also went down in the melee. Rins led out of the last corner, but admitted he knew it was the wrong tactics. "Fenati was more clever than me," he said. Sure enough, the Italian drafted past in the last yards, and so did Isaac Vinales, the three virtually side by side. Oliveira was a tenth down; followed by Niklas Ajo. Masbou, and Alessandro Tonucci. All seven were covered by less than six tenths. Miller retained the title lead, but the gap has been cut to just five points over Fenati, 104-99. Rins (87), Vazquez (76) and Vinales (64) are next; Vazquez came through to 12th after a ride-through penalty for a jump- start. The Moto3 class was heated as always with Romano Fenati (5) ultimately taking the win. continued on next page

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