Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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immediately called in for a ride- through. Had it been deliberate rather than a trademark over-am- bitious lunge then more punish- ment could have been applied later. But the matter was over. (As were Pedrosa's title hopes.) Race direction put this deci- sion off until after the race be- cause it was "so important to the championship," and because (let's face it) Rossi is Rossi, the most important of individuals. Also because Race Direction was busy directing the race, lacking time to go through all the slo-mo. This in itself is a good argument for adopting a Formula 1-style independent jury to work alongside them. But the basic facts were clear: Rossi had caused a crash. Earn- ing a ride-through just for a start. There would have been a storm, certainly, and arguments. But no back-of-the-grid start. And none of the other silliness. And prob- ably the same final outcome. Silliness like HRC's on-again/ off-again accusations of a delib- erate kick. There's a little blip on an abstruse graph somewhere, proving (say Honda) that the kick applied Marquez's front brake. But unless there is also DNA from Rossi's leathers on the le- ver, it only proves that the brake was applied. Questions remained un- answered, as HRC slipped into reverse. Twice. HRC had promised to show the data to the press; twice changed their minds at the last moment. Bullish team principal Livio Suppo was also back pedaling. The Sepang accusation "may have been a mistake." Surely pressure from above. The Honda Motor Com- pany could read the tweets and posts as well as anybody, and some of them said: "I will never buy another Honda." Putting the lid on it after the event, however, just looked silly. "May have been a mistake" came also from Lorenzo, who had rushed in with calls for disqualification on the day, and even tried to get his oar in on Rossi's unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to get his back-row start penalty suspended. There were other absurdi- ties. Yamaha had a big "All-Star" gala planned for Saturday to celebrate their 60 th —top brass from Japan and champions from round the world were flown in. It was suddenly cancelled with two days to go. Dorna also cancelled the usu- al pre-event press conference, fearful of who knows what? That the riders would start spitting in each other's water bottles? Then that last race. When Marquez shadowed Lorenzo the whole way. Was this the same rider who had swapped places with Rossi nine times in one single lap at Sepang? Was he, as Rossi said, riding "body- guard," so that he even acted to foil Pedrosa's final attack? Or was it just the usual Lo- renzo win—like all other six, led from first lap to last? We can never know. The best assumption is that nobody is in- nocent. But if Marquez really was playing unfair, it was the perfect crime. The only evidence is hear- say. And all of it conflicting. An atmosphere rich in conspir- acy theories at Valencia threw new light on Rossi's dubious and completely unexpected verbal attack on Marquez that started it all off. Why had he done this? Nobody could figure it out at the time. In retrospect, he could have been preparing the ground and clouding the issue, in case of title loss? If so, it proves him far more cunning and calculating than any Spanish sub-plot to get together and help Jorge. One result is that there will always be a small smudge of suspicion over Lo- renzo's 2015 crown. Such theorizing is of little value. The evergreen Rossi's fairy-tale title return was lost, and like it or not it was the faster and not the more popular rider that won. The dignity of racing, how- ever, has suffered, along with that of Rossi himself. If "dignity" isn't too absurd a word to use about a ruthless sport of manic egotism. CN VOL. 52 ISSUE 47 NOVEMBER 24, 2015 P117