MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 10/AUGUST 10, 2014
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY/INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
P48
FIRST TIMER!
There's a long history of freight
trains in the Midwest, celebrated in
song and legend. Moto3 added a new
verse at Indy, with a pack of 10 still
almost as close together at the end of
the race as in the early laps, and vic-
tory a matter of luck as well as skill.
And, in the case of first-time winner
Efren Vazquez (in his 116th attempt!),
of speed. The Spaniard's SaxoPrint
Honda has reliably posted the best top
speed figures all season, and it was
a surge of speed that took him past
almost-winner Romano Fenati's Sky
VR46 KTM with inches to spare.
The win was by less than .006 of a
second; while title leader Jack Miller
and his Red Bull KTM was hardly
further behind, and himself only just
ahead of Alexis Masbou, from the Es-
trella Honda pair of Alex Rins and Alex
Marquez and the rest.
First to sixth was covered by one
second; first to 10th by 2.6.
All the top six had led at least once,
and the final tactics, after almost 59
miles of racing in the closest com-
pany, were desperate. Every passing
move left the executor vulnerable to
attack himself. The shuffling happened
on almost every corner.
Moto3 racing is, by most measures,
by far the best of the whole series.
Miller had claimed pole and led
away, but any hopes of breaking free
were soon scotched with the slip-
streaming down the long straight, and
the order changed over and over.
Aleix Espargaro
(41) and Stefan
Bradl (6) made it
easier for Bradley
Smith (38) when
he crashed they
collided in the
race with Bradl
crashing. Smith
ended up sixth.
