MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 3 / APRIL 22-23, 2017
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS
P62
All weekend, the weather had
also delivered a few curve balls—
cold enough on Saturday morn-
ing for free practice to be littered
with 10 crashes, warm enough
on Sunday to trigger Marquez to
take a gamble, five minutes be-
fore the race, to switch to hard
tires front and rear.
Vinales crashed his Movistar
Yamaha on just the second of
21 laps of the 3.42-mile track. "It
was a surprise.
Another one came from Race
Direction, who slapped a three-
tenths penalty on Rossi after a
near collision with feisty rookie
Johann Zarco sent him careening
off the track, gaining a notional
advantage by cutting out one of
the to-and-fro swerves early in
the lap. The size of the penalty
was also rather notional, but
could have made a difference.
Old war-horse Valentino Rossi
managed to leave for home after
three flyaway races leading the
world championship. Which
in some long-established way
also felt kind of normal. Yet also
surprising, and especially for him
after his pre-season problems.
Also normal: Maverick Vinales
turned out to be fallible and hu-
man. But after his calm and clear
two earlier wins, this mistake
