Cycle News

ROAD RACE FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 12 / SEPTEMBER 4, 2016 SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT / NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND P64 Post-Brno tests bore some fruit for Yamaha and Honda riders, but as always it was a matter of pluses and minuses. Yamaha brought a new chassis and swingarm to Silverstone, and Lorenzo liked the combination, saying it improved his front-end confi- dence. Rossi was to and fro between old and new chassis in qualifying, but preferred the old swingarm. Honda, said Marquez, had focused on their continuing acceleration problem as well as a new chassis. Eugene Laverty shone in the wet in probably his last British GP, after the Ulsterman decided to move back to World Superbikes to join Aprilia. In his second MotoGP season, Laverty has frequently impressed, with a best result of fourth in Argentina. Laverty decided to quit after learning that the Aspar team's sole Ducati GP16 will go to new signing Alvaro Bautista, leav- ing him on an older machine. "I've enjoyed these two years, and this year has been a big improvement," he said. "The big thing is competitive ma- chinery. I want it to be wet for the race here. Because in the wet you don't know what will happen." His convinc- ing run to pole position was cut short by a crash, but he still qualified sixth, in his second time through to Q2. He may be a grand prix winner in all three classes, but Andrea Iannone would make a rotten car thief. He posted the evidence himself on so- cial media, getting a friend to video his way of rescuing the situation after he locked his keys inside his Porsche at a gas station in the small hours. With more than 60 miles to his Vasto home, he borrowed a hammer, and smashed and smashed the back side window, making a real meal of it, but grinning mischievously at the camera once he was back on the road. Check out the video. Romano Fenati remained out in the cold at Silverstone, and probably for the rest of the year, although links with the Ongetta Rivacold Honda team remain strong for a possible re- turn to Moto3 in 2017. The talented but wayward rider's hopes of mov- ing to Moto2 were formally quashed when it was confirmed at Brno that current Mahindra rider Pecco Bag- naia would be campaigning the SKY VR46 machine when Rossi's squad moved up to the middle class. In fact, as reported from Austria, that deci- sion had already been made, and was a major trigger for Fenati's latest blow-up, that proved terminal for the team. Silverstone, the longest and one of the fastest tracks on the calendar, rang again to the ring-a-ding-ding of two-strokes, when a parade of past heroes ran demonstration laps on contemporary machines, com- memorating the 40th anniversary of Barry Sheene's first of two 500cc World Championships. The line-up included not only legend Mick Doo- han on his equally legendary Honda NSR500, but also Wayne Gardner, Randy Mamola, Sheene's son Fred- die, and many of Sheene's contem- poraries, including Graeme Crosby, Paul Smart and Stan Woods. Sadly Kenny Roberts was absent. The man who displaced Sheene in 1978 is re- covering from a recent heart attack, not to mention being embroiled in a bitter legal battle with his younger son Kurtis. The only girl racer, Maria Herrera, was riding with a big question mark on the flanks of her MH6 KTM—the Moto3 maiden seeking sponsorship as team finances hit rock bottom. Herrera had finished in the points three times before the British GP. Dorna's much-derided contract with the still non-existent Circuit of Wales notwithstanding, the British GP will stay at Silverstone for at least one more year. This was confirmed on race day with the announcement that the Northamptonshire circuit and the Circuit of Wales had agreed to extend their current arrangement for next year, "with an option to ex- tend to 2018." Briefly... Loris Baz smiles. Ten minutes later he was in a world of pain.

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