VOL. 52 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 P69
Briefly...
win all the races," he said, two days
before Marquez proved his point.
The new track asphalt at Misano,
called for by the Safety Commission
last year, was judged by most to be a
major improvement on the previous
version in many ways. It was really
needed, according to Valentino Ros-
si. "Especially in the wet situation it
was very slippery. They have done
a very good job and they have also
improved the bump situation that in
the past was more difficult. It looks
like the asphalt gives more grip." The
new Misano asphalt that the MotoGP
class met for the first time in its en-
tirety delivered immediate results in
terms of lap times, with early fastest
man Marc Marquez already inside
the existing lap record on Friday
morning and the track's best be-
ing beaten in the first afternoon by
Jorge Lorenzo. Marquez had known
the track would deliver something in
terms of pure performance and lap
everything! The team informed
me of the situation with the pit
board and helped me decide
when to come in to change
bikes. I have to thank them."
This was Marquez' first win at
Misano, on a day that looked to
be a Yamaha party.
Some other riders also played
a wise tire game along with their
teams, like second place rider,
Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Brad-
ley Smith who took his best ever
finish and his second career
podium. His post race twitter
hashtag translates to English as
"luck favors the brave," and he
was right.
It also favored another British
rider who took a podium finish,
Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS'
Scott Redding, as the factory
Takaaki Nakagami thought he would
be able to hold onto second place, but
Rabat got to him and led him over the
stripe for the last three laps.
Local rider and best Italian—Forward
Racing Kalex' Simone Corsi—like most
of the top riders, would finish a small
distance from the rider in front and
behind, with fifth place Julian Simon on
the QMMF Racing Team Speed Up just
over two seconds from him.
AGR Team Kalex' Jonas Folger
went into the top six; 10.466 seconds
from the winner after 26 dry laps.
Corsi's teammate and compatriot
Lorenzo Baldassarri placed seventh in
a lonely final ride three seconds clear
of the chasing Sandro Cortese on the
Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex. For Rins'
teammate Luis Salom, Misano
gave him ninth. The top 10 was
rounded out by Thomas Luthi
on the Derendinger Racing
Interwetten Kalex; the ninth
Kalex rider in the top ten. Only
Simon's Speed Up broke the
Kalex party.
Simon's teammate Anthony
West scored a point in 15th
and got let go by his team
after the race. Speed Up's
Sam Lowes had to retire after his rear
tire started to lose rubber.
In the championship standings
Zarco is 93 points ahead. A good
result in Aragon at the next round,
and less luck for his rivals, could see
him crowned champion. He has 274
points, Rabat 181, Rins 164 and Luthi
131. Lowes no-score leaves him fifth,
on 128.
Johann Zarco (5) could clinch the
Moto2 Championship at the next
round in Aragon.
continued on page 73
In the wet it was Valentino Rossi (46)
that led the way, much to the delight
of the Italian fans.
