VOL. 53 ISSUE 20 MAY 24, 2016 P81
moment in all three classes at
Mugello.
Lorenzo seized the lead into
the first corner from Rossi and
fast-starter Aleix Espargaro
(Ecstar Suzuki); then Marquez
and Monster Yamaha's Bradley
Smith.
Front-row starter Andrea Ian-
none (Ducati) got a shockingly
bad start, blaming clutch prob-
lems, finishing lap one in eighth
before in my career."
That's because Lorenzo's Ya-
maha accelerated faster, pulled
alongside, and took a breath-
taking victory by just 0.019 of a
second. It was one of the pre-
mier class' closest-ever finishes,
after one of the fiercest last-lap
battles for some years.
Good tracks make for good
racing, as Phillip Island fans well
know. There was never a dull
lead onto the finish straight by
three or four bike lengths.
Marquez had complained all
weekend of a lack of stability,
acceleration and top speed, and
was running without winglets to
try and improve the last. It was
not enough. "I knew he could
pass me, because I had been
following him all race. Today I
lost the race in the last 50 me-
ters. That has never happened
