VOL. 51 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 21, 2014 P61
Briefly...
enough to say: "Of course we help
each other. If not for me, Marc would
not be World Champion this year."
With the battle for second overall in
MotoGP becoming consuming, will
Marc Marquez try to help teammate
Dani Pedrosa regain the second
place he lost to Valentino Rossi (on
equal points, but with more second
places) at Motegi? "In Honda we
never have team orders. We didn't
have them last year when I fought
for the championship in Valencia
and Dani was third with no options."
Pedrosa came second in that race
behind Lorenzo, but third was good
enough for Marc. Then again? He
looked thoughtful. "But if they ask,
we will consider."
Footnote: Dani Pedrosa's Austra-
lian GP experience started badly
at a publicity event before the race,
where he and Jack Miller paraded
their bikes on the sidewalk alongside
the Yarra River. Not only was he out-
shone by the younger rider's wheelie
prowess, but he also fell over while
at a standstill, his legs too short to
support the bike when it unexpect-
edly tipped to the wrong side. "It
has happened to me before," he re-
vealed.
Casey Stoner to return to MotoGP.
Probably not, denying fans the fas-
cination of a battle with new boy
Marc Marquez. But the two-time
World Champion will be back in the
saddle at Motegi for two days at the
end of this month, testing the factory
bike for HRC. The first day will be on
Bridgestones and the second on the
Michelins that will take over as con-
trol tires in 2016. This is a repeat of
tests last October that were cut short
continued on next page
ing when he lost the front on the
downhill braking for MG corner.
Down and out, and (he said) he
wasn't even pushing hard.
Smith's Monster Yamaha team-
mate Pol Espargaro was also
ahead of the Englishman when
he had a carbon-copy front-end
crash while braking for Honda
hairpin - a replica of what Loren-
zo had done on a crash strewn
first day of practice.
And likewise Cal Crutchlow - in
his third-to-last race with Marl-
