Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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VOL. 53 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 18, 2016 P93 Ducati to a steady 18th. Jack Miller (EG-VDS Honda) was another to fall, shortly after losing touch with the Petrucci/ Redding gang, and for a fourth time of the weekend betrayed by a loss of front-end adhesion. Eugene Laverty (Aspar Ducati) also crashed out. With Marquez uncatchable on 273 points, the title fight is now for second, between fallen Yamaha riders Rossi (196) and Lorenzo (182). Vinales moved closer with 165, overtaking the absent Pedrosa (155). major knee surgery. EG-VDS Honda's Tito Rabat was a close 14th; with the last point going to Pedrosa substitute Hiroshi Aoyama (Repsol Honda). Baz was another five sec- onds away on the Avintia Ducati with his usual teammate Hector Barbera well behind. Riding Ian- none's factory Ducati, he'd been chasing Pol Espargaro when he slipped off, remounting in last. He had managed to get back ahead of his own one-race re- placement, Australian GP novice Mike Jones, who piloted the Redding are battling to earn the single factory bike for the Pramac team next year, and the Italian claimed eighth, Redding three hundredths behind him, as he had been, at least over the line, pretty much all race long. Factory Yamaha wild card Katsuyuki Nakasuga was an undramatic 11th, comfortably clear of Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Ducati), the Colombian manag- ing to stay less than two sec- onds ahead of heroic Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha), in his first race in seven weeks after MARQUEZ: "MY MOST DIFFICULT CHAMPIONSHIP" "This title was really, really dif- ficult," Marquez said of his year. "The start of the year was the most difficult part, maybe the most difficult in my career, because the bike was hard to ride. We had uphill in front, and we must find a way. "I remember saying to Honda's engineers: 'I believe in you, so I will change my mentality for the early races, but in the second part of the season, I need your help.' "This help arrived. They did a great job with electronics and to improve the acceleration. "The first two wins [round two in Argentina and three in the USA] were really important. Leading the championship, you can approach it in a different way. You can accept second place. Then at Le Mans [round five] I did a mistake, trying to push more than I could feel the bike. [He fell, remounting for 13th.] So I said: 'Okay. I must not push more than I can feel.' "In the second half of the season, I got a bit nervous, but I was waiting for Aragon … the weekend to win again. "My team was a big help this year. One important thing was to forget about the other riders. They helped me to relax. "Last year I paid an expensive price to learn that consistency is important. This year I crashed many times in practice, because I was using practice to find the limit. I did every practice, from FP1 to warm-up, on the limit. Then in the race, I went back from the limit. "If nobody pushes me I will not make mistakes, so I pushed [Rossi and Lorenzo] all the time, and they made mistakes." Marquez is the only rider to score points in every race this year so far, and his tally of five wins beats Lorenzo (three) and Rossi (two). As champion, he plans to drive the point home. "In the last races … I will be care- ful, but I will try to win all three." The Repsol Honda Team celebrates a job well done.