VOL. 53 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 23, 2016 P69
ahead. By now Scott Redding
(Pramac Ducati) had joined them
and Marquez was a couple of
seconds behind.
"I had expected a flag-to-flag
race, but when I saw the track
was not drying, I decided to
preserve my tires," Redding said
later.
Hector Barbera (Avintia Duca-
ti) was also moving through, and
was soon to join the leaders.
"Riders were passing me inside
and outside in the first laps,
and I was feeling desperate,"
Crutchlow said.
Had it rained again then those
on soft tires would have been in
the pound seats. As it was, they
stayed in control for the first half
of the race.
Dovi, in his 250th GP start,
took over the lead on lap two;
on the fourth Iannone moved
in the lead, in front of a sodden
82,000-strong crowd. He had
both factory Ducatis behind him,
Andrea Dovizioso ahead of An-
drea Iannone, then both Ecstar
Suzukis of Aleix Espargaro and
Maverick Vinales.
Crutchlow finished lap one
15th, while the factory Yamahas
were clearly in trouble, Lorenzo
10th and dropping like a stone,
Rossi 13th and doing the same.
