Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/739653
ROAD RACE FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 15 / OCTOBER 16, 2016 TWIN RING MOTEGI / MOTEGI, JAPAN P98 Quartararo (Leopard KTM) was close, and likewise teammate Joan Mir and Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta Rivacold Honda). A little way back, Dalla Porta (KTM), Norrodin (Honda), a distant Kornfeil (Honda), first- timer Albert Arenas (Peugeot) and Tatsuki Suzuki (CIP Mahin- dra) wrapped up the rest of the points. As well as Navarro and gang, Canet, Locatelli and Valtulini crashed out, while Martin retired with leg injuries. Binder was already unassail- able, now on 269 points, but Bastianini took over second, 164 to Navarro's 143; Bulega at 129 and Mir 124. CN MotoGP 1. Marc Marquez (Hon) 2. Andrea Dovizioso (Duc) 3. Maverick Vinales (Suz) 4. Aleix Espargaro (Suz) 5. Cal Crutchlow (Hon) Moto2 1. Thomas Luthi (Kal) 2. Johann Zarco (Kal) 3. Franco Morbidelli (Kal) 4. Takaaki Nakagami (Kal) 5. Sandro Cortese (Kal) Moto3 1. Enea Bastianini (Hon) 2. Brad Binder (KTM) 3. Nicolo Bulega (KTM) 4. Philipp Oettl (KTM) 5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Hon) A minor traffic altercation on the ac- cess roads to the circuit escalated out of control on race day at Motegi, with Australia's first premier-class world champion Wayne Gardner taken into police custody, and his Moto2-racing son, Remy, missing morning warm-up as a result. French news agency AFP reported that a police spokesman said, "He was ar- rested on charges of assault inside the Twin Ring Motegi." The incident was triggered when the 1987 500cc Champion's car scraped another on the way into the circuit. Three Tokyo men were in it, and in the ensuing argument Gardner was alleged to have grabbed at least one of them by the collar and "pushed them around." He denied the charges, saying he was trying to disengage himself after he had been grabbed … but was removed from the track to "help police with their enquiries." Remy returned to the track for the Moto2 race, but later that evening Wayne was still in custody. Motegi, an austere venue even in this year's unusual sunny condi- tions, showed its teeth even before any racing, with several bad crash- es, potentially crucial to the cham- pionships. The biggest loser was Dani Pedrosa, and not for the first time. With fourth overall already un- der threat by Maverick Vinales, the Repsol Honda rider rebroke his right collarbone in a spectacular looping highside on Friday afternoon, at the notorious "90-degree" corner just before the second underpass. Or perhaps it was Alex Rins, who had moved to within one point of Moto2 points leader Johann Zarco—only to suffer painful shoulder injuries after losing it over the curb one corner after the same underpass. But Jorge Lorenzo and Eugene Laverty were luckier. Both survived in spite of both being taken to hos- pital for cranial CAT scans. Movis- tar Yamaha's Lorenzo high-sided in FP3 on Saturday morning. It was a spectacular crash—"I flew many me- tres"—and he landed heavily, fearing the worst. But he was back for FP4 after passing the hospital inspec- tion, and soon after qualified on the front row. Laverty (Aspar Ducati) was more beaten up and helicoptered to hospital on Friday. He missed FP3, returning to qualify 19th. There were a number of other crashes during practice and qualifying, including Marquez at low speed, and Moto2 leader Johann Zarco, directly after claiming a record pole. Assen win- ner Jack Miller, back after missing four of the last five races while recu- perating, fell unhurt three times. "I wasn't even pushing," he said. Hap- pily, chassis adjustments eliminated the treacherous behavior of the front end. Pedrosa's place was taken halfway through the meeting by for- mer 250 champion Hiro Aoyama, who struggled somewhat on the fac- tory Honda, qualifying 22nd and last after a spill in Q1. Andrea Iannone pulled out of the Motegi race on the previous Sun- day, causing an urgent Ducati re- shuffle, and handing a chance of a lifetime to Australian 2015 Superbike Champion Michael Jones. With the usual sub, factory tester Michele Pirro, engaged in development of next year's Desmosedici, the fac- Briefly... cont. on pg 100