A
ragon. Rain in the semi-
desert. Conditions bad
enough to make a fool
of Marc Marquez. And Dani
Pedrosa. And guinea pigs out
of two other famous names.
Valentino Rossi and Andrea
Iannone.
The self-style "Maniac Joe"
was the first to go. He was ex-
tremely lucky. He was lying sec-
ond in the early laps when he ran
wide and over the paint. It could
hardly have been at a worse spot
- one where there the track mar-
gin was lined with a strip of artifi-
cial grass. It was wet, and deadly
slippery. His Ducati flicked instantly
sideways.
He did hang on at first, regain-
ing the track as he fought for con-
trol. But he was pointing in the
wrong direction, and the outcome
was inevitable. Off he went again,
BY PAUL CARRUTHERS
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
IS THE GRASS
ALWAYS GREENER?
P108
