VOL. 52 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 P107
Briefly...
rider Scott Redding off to Pramac
Ducati, the team took the chance of
a familiarization exercise for the ex-
Moto2 champion.
Troubled Forward Racing team owner
Giovanni Cuzari was back at Aragon,
after having been released from custo-
dy in Switzerland with at least some of
the charges against him dropped. The
Italian Swiss resident was arrested be-
fore the summer break as he returned
from the German Grand Prix, facing
accusations of tax fraud and money
laundering, throwing his MotoGP and
Moto2 teams into crisis and precipi-
tating Stefan Bradl's switch to Aprilia.
News came at Aragon that both teams
are now in a position to complete the
2015 season; and though the 2016
MotoGP plans are still unconfirmed,
Forward Racing will return in Moto2 for
sure. Current rider Lorenzo Baldassari
will stay on, while strong rumors linked
Valentino Rossi's half-brother Luca
Marini to the second seat.
Moto3 title leader Danny Kent has
finally dropped the other shoe, after
weeks of tension as he considered
his future options. As was most ex-
pected, he has signed to stay with
his current Kiefer team Leopard Rac-
ing as the German squad returns to
Moto2. The Kiefer squad won the
title with Stefan Bradl in 2011, before
moving to Moto3 two years later.
Kent ran a disappointing Moto2 in
2013 on the uncompetitive Tech 3
Mistral chassis before himself return-
ing to the smallest class. For 2016,
he will be on the class-leading Kalex
chassis. "I'm really happy to sign for
Leopard," he said. "We have experi-
enced a great season this year, and
I'm pretty sure we can also have a
great season next year."
That was his final desper-
ate lunge at the right-left
onto the long back straight.
But, as had been obvious
throughout, there, the Honda
had the extra speed for Pe-
drosa to get straight back in
front, and far enough ahead
by the end to hang on to
second to the flag.
"It was difficult to keep
the lap time and also keep
the door closed … because
I knew in some corners he
was faster than me," said
Pedrosa, whose tactics had
been flawless for one of his
best ever performances. "I
was not the fastest, but I am
happy. When you fight with
Rossi, it is always very dif-
ficult."
regained the lead
of the big gang
disputing eighth,
with Hiroki Ono on
the other Leopard
Honda and Fenati's
teammate Andrea
Migno completing
the top 10.
The crashes re-
tained the status quo
in the championship,
Kent 55 points clear
of Bastianini (234 to 179). Oliveira is
closing on 159, then Fenati 155 and
Antonelli 136.
Miguel Oliveira (44) came out on
top in another Moto3 thriller.
Andrea Iannone (29) made a
valiant effort with his injured
shoulder, but was unable to hold
of Rossi (46) and settled for
fourth.
