Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 P65 Briefly... tion, which was the key to the track returning to the calendar in 2008: it had been blacklisted after Wayne Rainey's serious crash here in 1993. "The best part was from the slow left onto the back straight," said Rossi. "You went left, left, left, with very good acceleration, and arrived at the last corner very fast. Now you ar- rive at that corner from the other way very fast, and it is scary, but you have to slow down all the way from there; it is difficult." Fellow-Italian Danilo Petrucci agreed. "The layout in the past was more flowing. With a 1000cc Super- bike you took the last corner at 230 km/h [142 mph]." Funnily enough, the corner set was a favorite also for ex-dirt-tracker Rainey, who was well practiced at sliding while turning left. The electronic limitations drew a little closer at Misano, with a new rule announced that will require fac- tory teams to cease software devel- opment on June 30 next year. From the next day, they will be required to switch development to the 2016 "uni- fied" software, based largely on the current software supplied to Open class machines. New manufacturers – i.e. Suzuki and Aprilia – will not be restricted, however, though they will be invited to join the establishment in developing unified software from that date. Another new rule announced late on Sunday is a two-kg weight re- duction (4.4 pounds) for 1000cc Mo- toGP machines, from 160 kg to 158 (347 pounds); with a possible further reduction on the cards for 2016. LORENZO ON POLE Foul weather meant all of Friday was lost to rain, leaving everyone with just one morning session not only to try and find the right settings for the bumpy and tortuous circuit, but also to slot into the top 10 to avoid having to run in Q1. Andrea Iannone, back from two wet crashes on Friday, led the way; Val- entino Rossi was sixth and Alvaro Bautista scraped in at 10th, leaving Stefan Bradl and Pramac Ducati's Yonny Hernandez (fastest in the first wet session) to find their way through to Q2, with Cal Crutchlow left behind after bike trouble scotched his second run. His teammate Andrea Dovizioso also had bike problems, in FP4, spoiling his schedule and meaning he was off the front row for the first time in four races; he qualified sixth and was yet to test whether the soft tire would work. But the big news was Marc Marquez, qualified fourth, and off the front row for the first time all season. He appeared unworried, explaining that he'd spent Q2 con- tinuing set-up work, searching for front-end confidence, rather than going for pole. "It was my decision, and now we will try more different things in warm-up," he said. "If it doesn't work, we still have a base. I'm happy, because I am only one tenth off pole." Not as happy, however, as Lo- renzo, the man on top for the first time this season, at a track where the Yamaha generally shows well. And from the start. "We were competitive in the first session, not like Silverstone. The bike's working well because Valentino is also fast." Indeed he was, on the far end of row one, his first front row of the season. "Today was very positive," Rossi said. "We started well in the morning without any test, and we have improved a lot of the settings in the afternoon. The front row is good, because the game is in the first few laps." In between them, soft-tired Iannone, his third front row after tagging on behind Marquez. He too was wondering if the soft tire would be good for the race. "It's a difficult decision," Marquez led row two from teammate Dani Pedrosa, half-a- tenth slower and quietly confident, although he admitted: "Usually the Yamahas are good here." The key for him was not front-end feel. "It's more about traction. There are passing places here, but you need to get a good drive off the corner before. But I feel more competitive here than at Silverstone." Dovizioso was sixth; the Es- pargaro Bros led an all-Yamaha row three, Pol ahead of Aleix, and Bradley Smith alongside. Then Bradl, Yonny Hernandez and Bautista, with Crutchlow and Scott Redding best of the rest. Jorge Lorenzo earned his first pole position of the season on Saturday in Misano.

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