Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/661756
MOTOGP MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 / APRIL 3, 2016 TERMAS DE RÍO HONDO / SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA P68 and Marquez; an inspired Mav- erick Vinales (Ecstar Suzuki) was in close pursuit ahead of Iannone with defending cham- pion Lorenzo's Movistar Yamaha struggling somewhat ahead of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Aleix Espargaro (Ecstar Suzuki). This last pair promptly fell off independently but in formation at turn one, both remounting for an afternoon of catch-up. On the fourth lap Rossi got past Dovi, and soon he was pressing Marquez hard while the Ducati fell back a couple of sec- onds, into the hands of Iannone and Vinales. The last laps of the first half were something of a replay of last year: Rossi and Marquez trading places back and forth several times. This time, howev- er, nobody collided and nobody fell off. The battle was to be first into the pits at the end of lap 10, and Marquez won it with some assurance under severe pres- sure. MOTO3 PAWI POWERS THROUGH The first race of the day was fraught after wet warm-up. The rain had stopped and the track was drying, but there were still swirls of moisture, and the threat of more. Almost all came out on wet tires; all but one had changed to slicks for the start. The exception was Livio Loi, big win- ner of such a gamble at Indy in 2015; and sure enough his RW Honda did surge away from his usual slick-shod rivals to lead into the first corner. Amazingly, indeed historically, he wasn't there for long, thanks to a 17-year-old Malaysian in only his third GP. Asia Cup and CEV graduate Khairul Idham Pawi cared nothing for his slick tires, seized the lead on the first lap, and by the end had stretched it to 25 yawning seconds. Conditions had varied through the race; Pawi just got faster and faster in spite of signals from his Honda Team Asia crew to slow down. "It was easy for me," he said. "I just focused on my lap time." Ever further behind the teenager, Loi held second for six laps while first-time pole qualifier Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) was playing it cool in a pursuit pack that was soon seven-strong. The first to emerge was another 17-year-old Malaysian rookie, Adam Norrodin (Drive M7 Honda); and by the time he'd passed the fading Loi he'd been joined by EG Honda rider Jorge Navarro, who nipped ahead after a couple of laps. Norrodin shadowed the more experi- enced Spaniard and pounced on the Rossi (46) was close for 50 percent of the race, then faded to take a lucky second.