VOL. 51 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 21, 2014 P65
similar crashes in practice, but it was made
more so by the conditions. A warm land breeze
in the morning had become a chilly wind off
the Bass Strait just before the Moto2 race, the
second race of the day. For MotoGP, track
temperatures had dropped a bit more than
the harder rubber could bear. Especially if you
slowed down.
Another to pay the price on an asymmetric
front was LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl, though
that was through bad judgment rather than
locking the wheel. He ran into Honda Hairpin
too hot and tagged the back of Aleix Esparga-
ro's Forward Yamaha, crashing and damaging
Espargaro's bike enough that he had to pull
out (the same thing happened to the same two
riders at Indianapolis).
Earlier, Pramac Ducati's Andrea Iannone did
exactly the same at the same place to Dani
Pedrosa; although there was no tire issue. He
crashed; Pedrosa limped to the pits with his
back wheel buckled and his race over. It was
Repsol Honda's first double non-finish since
the Portuguese Grand Prix in 2010.
But the day belonged to Rossi, at his favor-
Briefly...
discussed with Bridgestone having
a mandatory pit stop, because we
know that Marc [Marquez] will miss
it." And about how he had found
the extra speed to get there: "I've
worked out that if you brake later and
open the gas earlier, you go faster."
Marquez was disqualified from last
year's race after a pit-crew muddle
meant that he missed the compulso-
ry pit stop that had to be made after
either nine or 10 laps.
Marc Marquez will not ride next
year's bike at the last round at Valen-
cia, even though the 2015 RC213V
will be on hand for tests the day af-
ter the race – because the Dorna
engine-freeze rule makes it imprac-
ticable. "Next year's engine has
changed a bit, and it would be really
expensive to adapt this engine to fit
the new chassis. We already spoke
about this in Brno," he explained. He
got his first taste of the new bike in
tests the day after the Brno GP, and
promptly broke the track record.
mate John McPhee almost alongside,
and likewise Ongetta-Rivacold Honda
rider Alexis Masbou. First to sixth was
covered by .242 of a second!
Miguel Oliveira had tried but failed
to catch them, finishing a second
down, after he'd been delayed in a
prolonged skirmish with Jakub Korn-
feil, just over half-a-second away over
the line.
Wild card Remy Gardner, son
of former 500cc World Champion
Wayne, had to start from pit lane after
failing to get started for the warm-up
lap. He finished 26th.
The scale of Miller's achievement
can be measured by noting that
eighth-placed Kornfeil's had been the
next-best KTM on a track that clearly
favored the gruntier
Hondas, with the
Japanese bikes
filling from second
to sixth.
Will it be enough
to regain the title
lead, with two races
left?
Hold your breath
again.
Marquez has 251, Miller has re-
gained five points in 231, then comes
Rins with 210, Vazquez in 187 and
Fenati with 174.
There was no
more popular win
on the Island than
when Aussie Jack
Miller won the
Moto3 GP.
Marquez crashed out while braking for MG Corner.
