Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P83 it unearthed an unexpected problem that caused a hatful of front-end crashes. Even his teammate, come- back man Dani Pedrosa, fell victim on only the second lap, remounting to finish 16th… this race was a test for his arm surgery, and he wanted to do full distance. On that count anyway, so far so good. Track temperature was 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit. It had maxed out at 59 F on the previ- ous morning runs, so Marquez had a point. "We knew that with a rise in temperature, conditions change, but we expected it to be for the better and this time it was for the worse," he said. But this serves to hide a greater malaise afflicting Honda: highlighted by the technical progress made by Yamaha and Ducati. Marquez had to ride much harder for fourth at Le Mans then he ever did when he won the first 10 races in a row one year ago. The podium trio were illumi- nating, when asked to analyze Honda's problems. The Yamaha pair Lorenzo and Rossi spoke about their improved brak- ing this year, while retaining their corner-speed advantage. Dovizioso was more direct. "In my opinion, the talent of Marquez masks some of the limits of the Honda," Dovizioso said. "The Honda does not have perfect balance." Lorenzo took the glory and the points, but Iannone was in many ways the hero of the race. At the start of the week he was a doubtful starter after dislocating his left shoulder in a second big crash at Ducati tests at Mugello. Full of painkillers and courage, Briefly... the session, hoping for a clear track. That was when the fast times were set, as the drizzle rapidly destroyed the grip. "If not for that, I think I had the pace to run away again," he said. His margin of 37 points represents a potential and unprecedented cham- pionship runaway too. Electronic woes continued to abound at Le Mans, both among the Factory bikes with their custom- made software and (as usual) in the Open class, using much derided new standard control software. One prominent victim was Jorge Lorenzo, going out for his crucial final practice run. "In pit lane the bike behaved a bit strangely, then it said I was in fifth or sixth gear when I was in second. It was like that for one lap." But even after the automatic reset for the next lap, "it was working a bit strange, in engine braking and throttle control. I didn't feel it too much, but at the end were fully engaged. Rins seemed to have the best of it, his teammate Salom displacing QMMF Speed Up's Julian Simon from the pursuit on lap 12. Nakagami was with them, and also Federal Oils Kalex' Xavier Simeon. But Franco Morbidelli on the Italtrans Kalex had joined up and was picking his way through, pil- ing on the pressure. On lap 20 he was past Salom, next time round Rins as well, and battle was truly joined. Until Rins crashed out at the Dunlop chicane—his second successive race crash. Salom would not last much longer, also crashing with two laps to go; and now Simon briefly got ahead of Morbidelli. But the Italian was in front again over the line by a couple of tenths; then Nakagami and Simeon still right up close. Petronas Kalex' Hafizh Syahrin held off Dominique Aegerter on the Technomag Kalex for ninth. Australian An- thony West (QMMF Kalex), still 14th at half distance, made his way steadily to finally prevail over a four-strong battle for eleventh. Double race winner Jonas Folger on the AGR Kalex crashed out; as did Alex Mar- quez, Louis Rossi and Mika Kallio. Zarco on 89 extended his lead to 21 points over new second-placer Luthi, with Fol- ger another 11 points down in third. Lowes and Morbidelli are equal, three more points adrift. Thomas Luthi dominated the Moto2 race to take his first win of the season. continued on next page

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