VOL. 51 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 P53
boy Bradley Smith and his Monster Tech 3
Yamaha had come through to take sixth by
lap five, soon joined by Andrea Iannone's
Pramac Ducati – hastily rebuilt after a last-
corner's crash robbed him of a potential
front-row start.
The Italian was ahead before half dis-
tance; Aleix Espargaro hanging on behind,
and brother Pol and his Monster Tech 3 Ya-
maha had joined in and was cutting through.
He was ahead of Smith when the Brit sud-
denly slowed and cruised back to the pits.
He had a cracked wheel, and it was getting
harder and scarier as the laps went on.
By now Fun&Go Honda's Alvaro Bautista
had caught up; and also LCR Honda's Ste-
fan Bradl, after running wide and dropping
to 10th on lap one.
It was a lively group, closing on Iannone,
with Pol the first to catch and pass the
Ducati. Next came the Hondas, but Bautista
slipped off again with two laps to go; Bradl
took seventh off Iannone on the last lap.
With Aleix Espargaro now a distant ninth,
Fun&Go Honda's Scott Redding was 10th,
Briefly...
Two famous old names returned to
Moto2 – or should that be three?
They were Mamola, with Randy's son
Dakota making a GP debut; Jeremy
McWilliams, with former 250cc GP
winner Jeremy making a wild card re-
turn aged 50; and Brough Superior
– the motorcycle ridden by the hardy
Ulsterman.
Dakota Mamola was riding in place
of former 125 champion Nico Terol,
suffering one of those dreaded mys-
tery complaints that have seen his
results slump badly. The new boy fell
once in practice, but qualified safe-
ly in last place. He fell again in the
race, pitted twice, and finished last,
three laps down.
With the end of the season ap-
proaching, at least one factory rider
is in danger of a pit-lane start for
exceeding the engine allocation,
reduced this year from six to five.
continued on next page
