C
urrently unencumbered with children
of an appropriate mental or chronologi-
cal age, I have been able to escape the
clutches of the hit film "Frozen," and thus have
no idea what it is about. And no great wish to
find out.
But the word itself is much in play in MotoGP.
Factory engines have been "frozen" since last
season–meaning that mid-season development
is banned. And electronic developments like-
wise are to be frozen from the end of June.
Now results from the first tests at Sepang
show there is more icing going on. The name
of Marc Marquez is frozen at the top of the time
sheets. And also the names of the top four: the
factory Hondas of Marquez and Pedrosa plus
the factory Yamahas of Rossi and Lorenzo.
Okay, Andrea Iannone did slip among them
into third on the Ducati, but this is not such an
anomaly. He was actually on an update of last
year's bike, and both he and that pre-2015 Des-
mosedici showed often enough that they were
capable of one very fast lap. And being unable to
sustain the speed over even half-race distance.
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
FASTER IS BETTER
P118
