VOL. 52 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 11, 2015 P71
Briefly...
Should Valentino win the title this
year, his eight in the class, at the
age of 36, would this be the crown-
ing moment in his career? "No," said
the title leader. "In 2001, it was the
last year of the 500 two-strokes, and
I won. Also in 2004, when I switched
from Honda to Yamaha."
A landmark for Andrea Dovizio-
so—Indy was his 231st consecutive
start, without having missed a race.
This new record puts him one up on
Rossi, with 230 before injury inter-
rupted his run in 2010. Rossi has the
most starts of anyone in the series,
with 322; Alex de Angelis and Dani
Pedrosa next, on 258 and 236. The
most in Moto2 stands to Anthony
West, 231; and in Moto3 to Alexis
Masbou, 150.
Triple World Champion Wayne Rain-
ey took center stage at a well-attend-
ed ceremony on the grid on race day
after morning warm-up—a formal one
minute of silence in memory of the
two Spanish riders killed at Laguna
Seca earlier this year. Dani Rivas and
Bernat Martinez were fatally injured
in a first-corner crash in the new Mo-
toAmerica series, run at the World
Superbike meeting. Rainey, cham-
pion from 1990 to 1992, heads the
MotoAmerica series, designed to
breath new life into the almost mori-
bund AMA series.
Toni Elias might have thought his ca-
reer was over, following a consistent
downhill trail after he became the
first Moto2 champion in 2010. Add
to that this year the cheerful 32-year-
old Spaniard found himself without
escape at one point, if a gap of
six tenths over someone like the
Repsol Honda rider is enough to
suggest this.
For his part, Marquez was
surprised at his rival's pace, and
even had a few doubts of his
own at the mid-point. A final new
record on lap 23 closed him up
again, and when he used his
RC213V's extra grunt to power
down the front straight to seize
the lead into the fearsomely fast
in my opinion—it was difficult in
my mind to recover confidence,"
Lorenzo said. "But I rode better
all weekend. I could be fast and
constant all race. But it took all
my energy to try to escape."
Marquez was on pole, but
Movistar Yamaha man Lorenzo
grabbed the lead into the first
corner, and held it under con-
stant pressure until the start of
the 25th of 27 laps. He even
looked like he might be able to
Maverick Vinales
faded to finish
11
th
on the Ecstar
Suzuki.
continued on page 74
