VOL. 53 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 15, 2016 P61
Marquez, however, was on the
march. His position had been
set, on a tortuous one-line track
with few passing opportunities,
after a poor start, "my worst of
the season." A recalcitrant clutch
dropped him from second on the
grid to seventh into the first cor-
ner. On the other hand, he was
one of only four (with Crutchlow,
Miller and Laverty) to choose the
hard front tire. Now was the time
for it to pay dividends.
His first pass on Iannone was
promptly repulsed on the next
run down the straight, but he
did secure second on that 20th
lap, and began a bravura perfor-
mance, fulfilling his promise of a
return to full risk after securing
the title three races ago. And
the risk was not just to his own
health and safety. With team-
mate Dani Pedrosa and LCR
Honda rider Cal Crutchlow hav-
ing already crashed out, should
he not finish, then Honda would
lose the Constructors Title to
Yamaha.
It is hard to know how this
played on his mind, but the
chance of victory certainly was
to the front of it, no matter how
remote it seemed, and his com-
ment was revealing: "I had noth-
ing to lose."
Over the last 10 laps, he was
slicing half a second a lap out of
Lorenzo's lead. As they started
the last, he was behind by 1.784
seconds, and his quarry was
in sight—by the end of it, 1.185.
"If there had been another two
laps…" he said.
were still taking chunks out of
one another, the Ducati's speed
and its rider's daring trumping
Rossi's finesse time and again,
while Dovi had faded off the
back, blaming a poor feeling and
difficulty braking.
position with Valentino Rossi
(Movistar Yamaha), with Marquez
(Repsol Honda) and Sepang
winner Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati)
glued on behind.
Now, however, things were
changing. Rossi and Iannone
