Cycle News

ROAD RACE FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 14 / SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 MOTORLAND ARAGON / ARAGON, SPAIN P76 Factory Ducati rider Andrea Ian- none pulled out of the Aragon GP after a painful first practice session left him in no doubt that carrying on would be a risk too far. The Austrian GP winner fractured his T3 vertebra in an FP1 crash two week ago at Mi- sano, and while he tried to return to his home GP, was ruled unfit. He was back at Aragon, and placed a worthy sixth in FP1, on teammate Dovizioso's heels and barely seven-tenths off Marquez's blistering pace. But the physical pain, and fears that continu- ing would badly delay his recovery, led to his withdrawal. "I don't have the energy to ride for a long time," he said. He could manage only three or four laps before having to pit to rest. "I have a lot of pain, especially in braking and acceleration, and the change of direction." This was im- portant on the Ducati. "We use the body a lot and at the moment it's very difficult to control the bike." While he would have been able to race with painkillers, "I think after the race the situation would be worse." He hoped that extra three weeks' recovery time would mean he'd be fit for Motegi—a track with severe braking and accel- eration. His place was again taken by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro. 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden made a MotoGP return at Aragon, in place of injury victim Jack Miller. Currently campaign- ing with success in World Super- bikes, Hayden was impressed by the upgrade to the machinery com- pared with his open spec Honda of last year. There are many changes, apart from the switch to Michelin tires and control electronics. The biggest improvement was accelera- tion, he said. The power delivery was smoother, and combined with the seamless gearbox, "acceleration is incredible…bang, bang, bang, go- ing through the gears." Hayden was the last to win a World Championship on Michelins, but he found that more than 10 later, there was little compari- son. His comments echoed those of all riders when they made the switch from Bridgestones—the rear tire was beyond reproach, but the front took a lot of getting used to. After the first day, he said, "I don't feel good with it. I need that bit of information to tell me where the limit is." A lack of warn- ing has been a constant complaint from MotoGP regulars. Hayden was one of several riders to crash with front-end washouts during practice, but finished up with a point for 15th in the race. A quirk of tire allocation and a cool track caused a crash-fest in Satur- day morning's FP3 session in the premier class, fortunately with no serious injuries. The tire question concerned the need to save soft tires for qualifying, while the track temperatures robbed the harder op- tion of grip. The first victim was Alex Lowes, substituting for injured Mon- ster Yamaha rider Bradley Smith, who suffered foot injuries in a high- speed front-end washout early in the session. He missed qualifying, and was declared unfit for the race. Ros- si was another early victim, crashing at cruising speed on his first out lap after his cold rear tire let go, while a little later Alvaro Bautista crashed his Aprilia when his front folded un- der braking. More spectacular were two later incidents, both involving the younger of the Espargaro brothers. The first came at the notorious Turn 2, a right-hander directly after the left and first corner. Pol lost the front and slid off in an otherwise innocu- ous low-sider, but his Yamaha slid across the pit-lane exit directly un- der the wheels of Danilo Petrucci's Pramac Ducati, as he was acceler- ating to join the track. Petrucci was sent looping over the handlebars and his bike cartwheeling to destruction by the collision. Hardly had Espar- garo rejoined the fray when he was hit from behind by Marc Marquez, who was on a fast lap when he sud- denly saw yellow flags waved for Hayden's crashed. He braked and lost the front, sliding straight into his compatriot. Their bikes continued sliding down the escape road, where the Yamaha slammed into Hayden's bike. Marshals managed to escape, while Hayden had to leap into the air to avoid getting hit. The elder Es- pargaro, Aleix, later slammed Mar- quez, pointing out that it was not the first time he had endangered track workers by crashing under yellow flags—something similar happened at Silverstone in 2013—and race di- rector Mike Webb also demanded an explanation from Marquez. It was adjudged a racing incident, however. "I saw the flags come out really late, so I braked, but I locked the front," Marquez explained. "I thought I had missed them on the previous cor- ner, but when we checked the video there had been no flags there." Briefly...

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