VOL. 52 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 11, 2015 P67
Briefly...
Marc Marquez definitely hasn't giv-
en up hope of a third title, with half
the season left to run and his cru-
cial "feel" for his Honda RC213V re-
stored by a switch back to last year's
chassis. "In the first part of the sea-
son, I lost," he told the press before
the race at Indy."In the second part,
maybe they will lose." His Yamaha ri-
vals agreed. Asked if they thought he
had a chance, Valentino Rossi came
straight back: "Yes. We are still in
the middle—nine races is a long way
to go." Jorge Lorenzo likewise. "We
didn't put him away… never. He is
still one of the favorites." Honda tests
at Misano after the last race in Ger-
many had strengthened his resolve
to stick with the 2014 chassis and
2015 swing-arm combination that he
adopted successfully at Assen. He
and Dani Pedrosa ran for two days
in Italy. On one day, "we tried some
things for next year," and devoted
the next to seeking refinements to
his present setup, "but in this world it
is difficult to find two tenths, or even
one tenth," he said.
outcome of their battles could
be decisive in the long-term war.
It was a weekend of triumph
for the defender Marc Marquez,
whose race win was his second
in succession, his fifth in suc-
cession at Indianapolis, and his
ninth in succession in the U.S.
It was, fittingly, the 700th for
Honda, with the first way back
in 1961. This puts the Big H
211 wins clear of nearest rival,
Yamaha.
It was a triumph won in fine
style, against the worthiest of
rivals—Jorge Lorenzo who got
faster all weekend, and bounced
back from a crash in morning
warm-up, his first of the season
(Marquez also crashed in warm-
up, but that is not so unusual).
"I expected a different race,
but Jorge [Lorenzo] was quicker
all weekend," said Marquez. "I
struggled a little in the middle of
the race."
"After my first crash of the
season—it was a defective tire
off Syahrin, who also fell a couple of
laps later.
By the end the front four had es-
caped by a marginal amount, and for
the last two laps Rins took over, taking
a half-second gap from Zarco over the
line, with Morbidelli a similar distance
behind for his first podium.
Aegerter was almost a second
away, Rabat a little further behind him,
and half-a-second clear of Luthi.
Meanwhile AGR Kalex' Axel Pons
had broken free from the next group to
close right up for seventh.
Sachsenring winner Xavier Simeon
on the Federal Oil Kalex was eighth.
Takaaki Nakagami on
the Idemitsu Kalex
and E-G Marc VDS
Kalex' Alex Marquez
rounded out the top
10.
A hell of a race,
and for Zarco "like a
victory," because he
again extended his
points lead over new
second-placer Rins,
199 points to 128.
Rabat has 125, then Luthi
109 and Lowes 107.
Alex Rins rode a smooth and smart race, outfoxing
Zarco and Morbidelli in a proper Moto2 dogfight.
The race distilled
into two battles
for two places,
with Rossi holding
off Pedrosa while
Marquez dispensed
of Lorenzo.
continued on next page
