VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P89
The Yamaha rider had dis-
posed of Marquez firmly on lap
three, but it took him another
eight to get past Iannone for
third. The Ducatis are hard to
pass, because strong braking
and powerful acceleration work
well at the stop-and-go squirts
of the Bugatti circuit.
But the Ducati is only five
races old, and still under devel-
opment. Dovizioso was happy to
remind us of this.
"I think we use a bit too much
grip from the tires, and after
10 laps it's hard to keep the
pace," Dovizioso explained. He
remained close, but had no an-
swer when Rossi arrived to take
over second on lap 13.
Now, before half distance, the
gap to Lorenzo was just under
two seconds.
The Yamaha pair dueled at a
distance for the rest of the race.
In short, Lorenzo was able to
keep the gap. They were closely
matched, if not close together.
Dovizioso was a lonely third;
then that fantastic battle for
fourth: Marquez, Iannone,
Briefly...
rather than any injury, he said.
Dani Pedrosa's racing return was
less tentative than expected, but
also unrewarded by points, after he
fell and remounted on the second
lap of the race. The Repsol Honda
rider had radical surgery to his right
forearm after a recurrence of debili-
tating arm pump at the first round,
and missed the next three rounds.
His return for round five was as much
to test the recovery of the last-ditch
surgery as anything. "I don't expect
to win," he said, before qualifying on
the third row. He had gained a place
for seventh when he fell. He had
remounted in order to test his arm
over full race distance. "I was quite
happy about my physical condition,"
he said later. "I still need to improve
a little bit, but in the next weeks with
therapy and with a little bit more rid-
ing and some more laps, I can get a
little better." Now his focus was on
joining Marquez in trying to improve
the Honda. "I could feel areas where
the bike is struggling, and where we
need to improve. I hope we can get
some ideas, because at the moment
we are a struggling a bit to catch up
with our rivals."
ing Danny Kent had joined them. His
progress from 31st had been steady
but relentless, but he admitted he had
used up his tires. If he could have
started up front, "I think I would have
had the pace to escape again," he
said.
Bagnaia timed his attack to lead
onto the last lap, but it was really
anybody's race; and it was Fenati
who led over the line, by inches—from
Bastianini, Bagnaia (the 18-year-old's
first podium), and Kent.
Antonelli got back to head the next
group from Kornfeil and
late arrival Isaac Vinales
on the Husqvarna; with
Oliveira losing touch by
the finish.
Another Moto3
thriller, and Kent (104)
extended his points
lead yet again, as
non-scorer Vazquez
(60) drops to third
behind Bastianini (67).
Quartararo has 52, one
ahead of Fenati.
Romano Fenati (5) topped an all-
Italian podium in Moto3.
Andrea
Dovizioso (04)
was unable to
hold off fellow
Italian, Rossi
(46), but held
on for a solid
third-place
finish.
