VOL. 53 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 P69
forced to slow.
Crutchlow passed him with six
laps left, and pulled comfortably
clear, once again top indepen-
dent rider, and moving past
Dovizioso to fifth overall.
Pedrosa regained sixth on the
last lap from Espargaro, who lost
two seconds with an error and
was all but overtaken by younger
brother Pol (Monster Yamaha).
Alvaro Bautista was ninth
after a strong ride on the Aprilia,
overtaking 10th-placed team-
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) fell
back into his reach. Dovi would
continue to fade, his medium/
medium tire choice not only get-
ting worse and worse as the laps
wore down, but a suspect front
tire vibrating worse and worse.
Now Espargaro's attackers
were Dani Pedrosa (Repsol
Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR
Honda), and both were ahead
of him on lap 11. But Pedrosa's
medium front tire was also start-
ing to come to bits, and he was
The pair remained locked in
combat until Rossi's error on
lap 22. Lorenzo was delighted
with second, only three seconds
from the winner. "Yesterday I
expected to be sixth or seventh,
but this season any unexpected
things have happened."
Vinales was a safe but ulti-
mately distant fourth. The battle
for fifth had been absorbing,
with second Suzuki rider Aleix
Espargaro hanging on grimly un-
til half distance, while fast starter
Valentino Rossi led for a bit
late in the race but lost grip
and slipped back to third.
