VOL. 52 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 13, 2015 P59
Briefly...
Moto2's latest bright star Johann
Zarco acquired the championship
three days earlier than he could have
hoped, when distant rival Tito Rabat
bowed out of the meeting after es-
saying only eight ineffectual laps in
the first free practice. Rabat was, for
a second time, victim of a training
crash at Almeria circuit; this time with
more serious consequences—a frac-
tured radius bone in his left arm. It
was rapidly plated and screwed, and
he arrived with it in a temporary cast,
and badly swollen. His aim was to
see if he could keep the champion-
ship at least numerically alive for one
race. It proved impossible. It was
not so much pain, but, "I just didn't
have the power I needed for the hard
braking areas," he said. "There are
seven of these at Motegi. It made no
sense to carry on. The champion-
ship is gone and second place is not
worth the risk of crashing and mak-
ing the injury worse. Congratulations
to Johan; he's ridden a faultless sea-
son." The Spaniard, bound for Mo-
toGP next year, was the first Moto2
Champion to defend the title, but
his season has been stricken with
sundry misfortunes and inconsistent
results while Zarco serenely piled up
the podiums. He did win two races,
including the last one at Aragon.
The list of walking wounded at Mote-
gi included some illustrious names.
Both Jorge Lorenzo and Marc
Marquez were included, as well
as soon-to-be-ex-Moto2 champion
Tito Rabat. Marquez's injury was
the most serious. A fall while train-
ing on a mountain bike fractured the
fifth metacarpal of his left hand (the
bone between the wrist and the first
knuckle). As usual, this was almost
Two laps in and
the race looked
like a foregone
conclusion with
Lorenzo (99)
streaking away
out front.
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