VOL. 51 ISSUE 28 JULY 15, 2014 P73
also came out of it best, after re-
passing chief elbower Rossi into
turn one, as the Italian ran wide,
caught out by cold brakes.
So too was Lorenzo, who had
to swerve onto the track early to
avoid hitting riders ahead, and
then held up his hand to drop two
places in recompense.
Pedrosa had to overcome what
was effectively a second or even
third-row start, but he was right
with Marquez by the end of the
lap. Rossi was next, having re-
passed Aleix Espargaro. Lorenzo
was another place down, behind
Monster Tech 3 Yamaha's Brad-
ley Smith.
At this time it was still tiptoe-
wet at the bottom of the hill, with
riders wobbling through that sec-
tion more or less tentatively, and
Briefly...
signed pages of a legally binding
"pre-contract") before Miller joined
the Red Bull KTM Moto3 team for
this year. "Under the terms of this six-
page contract, the Marc VDS Racing
Team negotiated on Jack Miller's
behalf… with the Red Bull KTM Ajo
Team. Ajo Motorsport team owner,
Aki Ajo, was made aware of the con-
tract between Jack Miller and the
Marc VDS Racing," said team prin-
cipal Michael Bartholemy in a written
statement.
It continued that a final contract
with the same key elements had
been agreed, but not yet signed,
and "all requests … for a meeting
with Jack Miller, his parents and his
management team, to clarify the situ-
ation… have gone unanswered. In
the absence of a signed final agree-
ment, the signed pre-agreement
remains extant and binding on both
parties." Miller had a robust com-
ment of his own. "At this moment I
am free. I have no idea where I'm go-
ing next year. I have no contract with
VDS, not binding, anyway."
Will star-in-the-making Jack Miller
jump straight to MotoGP? Earlier
this year he told us "it would only be
if I could get a competitive bike;" but
since then rumors have firmed up
that Dorna is pushing for just such a
move, probably to a satellite Honda
team, to promote their own Austra-
lian interests. Marc Marquez didn't
think much of the notion. "You need
to pass through Moto2, and have
the crashes, then arrive in MotoGP
and have the crashes in MotoGP.
You have to go step by step." Miller,
at the same press conference, re-
sponded: "It's a massive step, but it's
a motorbike, and if you can learn on
Valentino Rossi (46)
and Marquez (93)
lead the scrum out
of pit lane.
Jorge Lorenzo (99) fought through
to finish third.
continued on next page
