Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 17 APRIL 28, 2015 P119 for riders. Seemingly, Dorna would like them to match up as well. All except for one of them. It came with a flurry of penalty points, including a record three in one go for hot-blooded Italian Moto3 star Romano Fenati, who completely lost it with Niklas Ajo in morning warm-up. The result was a hugely entertaining, affirma- tion that bike racing is red in tooth and claw. Fenati kicked him on the slow- down lap, then managed to park alongside to do a practice start. Now he started to pummel him in earnest, and as a clincher, he tipped the kill switch to stall the engine, leaving the Finnish youngster waving his arms in stranded distress. This is reminiscent of the great days of 125 racing, when a rider would grab hold of a rival's seat on the straight, and heave it back- wards, to help overtake. Or indeed lean over and flick the kill switch; guaranteed to help you get past. Fenati's three-point punishment was combined with a point earned earlier, and on the totting-up system this meant he had to start from the back row of the grid, in spite of having qualified eighth. No doubt, when hauled before race direction, he was very contrite and promised not to do it again. No doubt also, he remained seething within, which helped to an epic race performance, riding through from the very back to match his qualifying position in the top 10. Well, he'll doubtless be more polite from now on, at least when the cameras are watching. Likewise three other riders who were punished for various other offenses. From henceforth, all will surely try to conform. We already have riders all spouting forth from the same primary-school public-relations manual, where stock phrases take the place of real opinions. It's very rare for any of them to speak his mind. Keep on, and they'll all behave the same way as well. Not quite "after you, Claude," but halfway there. Grand Prix racing with good manners. Argentina's MotoGP race was (as seems to be the potential for this coming season) a classic. Marc Marquez runs away, Valentino Rossi is trapped in the pack... then the grand master breaks free, hunts down the upstart, and attacks on the second-last lap. Now Marquez shows a side of himself that we had all but forgotten, over a couple of years when he had everything his own way. He is prepared to ride very rough. Rossi passes. He passes straight back. Rossi passes again. So he runs into him. Rossi takes no notice. Phase three. He runs into him again, but harder. In the way of things, now was when it went wrong for the new boy. Rossi was unruffled, but Marquez was ru- ined. The front wheel caught the Yamaha's rear, flicked sideways, and Marquez was down and out. Sometimes a plan can go wrong. It was fantastic racing, with no holds barred. Real unarmed combat. But dangerous riding? In the climate of confor- mity, you would have to say: yes. Certainly more dangerous than anything Fenati did. So was Marquez punished? Of course he wasn't. And, in my opinion, quite rightly. But there would be plenty to disagree. Notably the still out-of-sorts Jorge Lorenzo, victim back in 2013 of a similar attack at the last corner at Jerez that cost him second place. He was livid that Marquez wasn't sanctioned. If all riders should be treated the same, then let's go further. All riders should be treated the same as Marquez. CN "MAKE THE BIKES ALL THE SAME, KEEP THEM THAT WAY, AND MOTOGP BECOMES A SPORT FOR RIDERS RATHER THAN ENGINEERS. TAKING THE "MOTOR" OUT OF MOTORSPORT."

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