VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P93
Vinales passed me, and in
second gear the bike started to
react strangely. I just thought
about finishing at that point. We
got a few points and my best
result."
Forward Yamaha's Loris Baz
was next, outpacing Hector
Barbera on the Avintia Ducati;
Hayden's teammate Eugene
Laverty claimed his first points
for 14th, after passing Aprilia's
Alvaro Bautista.
A long casualty list helped
these lower runners into the
points.
Early casualty was the
returned Pedrosa, here as
much to test out his arm-pump
surgery as for the result. He
qualified eighth and finished
lap one seventh… only to be
the first Honda rider to lose the
front through the first chicane.
He remounted the damaged
bike to continue his test, finish-
ing 16th. Baz' teammate Stefan
Bradl fell on the same lap.
Soon afterwards E-G Marc
VDS Honda's Scott Redding
had a similar crash a bit further
round, out of 15th. Mike di
Meglio also crashed his Avintia
Ducati.
Then it was Cal Crutchlow's
turn, the CWM-LCR Honda rid-
er tucking the front also, while
seventh on lap nine. His crash,
he explained, was not the
same Honda front-end tuck,
though it looked like it. "My foot
slipped off the rear brake, so I
grabbed the front harder, and
came down," he said.
Crutchlow's teammate
Jack Miller suffered the same
fate, after enjoying a strong
battle with veteran Hayden. The
rookie was apprehensive and
slackened his pace, only to
lose the front once and for all
on lap 15.
Two in a row for Lorenzo, and
he moves to second overall,
with 87 points to Rossi's 102.
Dovizioso drops to third on 83;
Marquez lags 33 points adrift
on 69; Iannone has 61. CN
MotoGP
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati)
4. Marc Marquez (Honda)
5. Andrea Iannone (Ducati)
6. Bradley Smith (Yamaha)
7. Pol Espargaro (Yamaha)
8. Yonny Hernandez (Ducati)
9. Maverick Vinales (Suzuki)
10. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati)
Pedrosa, Honda's
chances of a third suc-
cessive triple crown
(rider, constructor and
team titles) have disap-
peared; and even the
rider title looks like a
long shot.
Marquez' struggles
are less to do with
luck and more with
the machine?
Nicky Hayden was the top Open
class rider, earning his best finish
this season thus far in 11th.
