T
hey always used to say that
a dirt-track background
was the best grounding for
Grand Prix racing.
That changed a bit at the
Sachsenring.
The background that paid
dividends was motocross.
Thanks to the unprecedented
and (for some) highly enjoyable
mass pit-lane start.
The pit-lane exit at the pock-
et-handkerchief German circuit
is narrow, and gets narrower
still as it leads to the (rather nar-
row) first corner. All the same,
the riders did their best to line
up across it in a single rank,
waiting for the green light. They
managed five abreast.
Then came the off, as front-
row qualifier Stefan Bradl and
an octet of back-of-the-grid rid-
ers disappeared around the
punishingly tight first corner.
It was all elbows. Knees too,
and shoulders, and then the
narrowest of escapes from a
number of collisions as riders
slammed on their carbon brakes
for the corner, only to find they
were too cool to work properly.
Great stuff. And no surprise
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
WHEN MOTOCROSS
MET MOTOGP
P124
