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. 54 ISSUE 16 APRIL 25, 2017 P71 the group disputing second was eight- strong, and boiling. By the last, Gresini teammates Jorge Martin and Fabio Di Giannantonio were at the front, with EG Honda man Enea Bastianini fourth, displacing Nicolo Bulega (SKY VR46 KTM) on the final lap. Second to fifth was covered by half a second, a similar distance behind Juanfran Guevara (RBA KTM) led John McPhee (BTT Honda) by less than a 10th, with Mir (Leopard Honda) on his heels. Philipp Oettl (Schedl KTM) was still right up close, Darryn Binder (PB KTM) led the next group in 10th. Mir still leads overall on 58 points; Martin's full house of podiums moves him to second on 52, past McPhee (49). Fenati is fourth at 45, with Migno (12th today) at 25. CN MotoGP 1. Marc Marquez (Hon) 2. Valentino Rossi (Yam) 3. Dani Pedrosa (Hon) 4. Cal Crutchlow (Hon) 5. Johann Zarco (Yam) Moto2 1. Franco Morbidelli (Kal) 2. Thomas Luthi (Kal) 3. Takaaki Nakagami (Kal) 4. Alex Marquez (Kal) 5. Dominique Aegerter (Sut) Moto3 1. Romano Fenati (Hon) 2. Jorge Martini (Hon) 3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Hon) 4. Enea Bastianini (Hon) 5. Nicolo Bulega (KTM) A very small but highly contro- versial penalty for Valentino Rossi set tongues wagging at Austin, after Race Direction announced that three-tenths of a second would be added to his race time after he had supposedly "gained advan- tage" running off the track on the to-and-fro swerves to avoid a collision with Johann Zarco. The Frenchman had been pushing hard in the early laps and took Rossi by surprise with his headlong lunge into the left-hand turn three. The veteran multi-champion was already committed to the corner, but picked up to avoid a collision, and ran across the paved section inside the immediately following right- hander. He rejoined well clear of his attacker, and had thus gained an advantage. But had he not done so, it was likely they might have both crashed, and it was not a calculated or cynical move. Had Pedrosa been able to stay with Rossi after he overtook in the clos- ing stages, three-tenths might have made the difference between second or third, and four potentially crucial title points. As it turned out, the penalty made no difference. The first difficulty was for the team—to decide whether or not to signal the penalty to Rossi. He approved that they had not done so. The pos- sibility of misunderstanding was too great. After the race, the principle was called into question. "For me, it is not right," said Rossi. "I had two choices—to go straight, or we touch and maybe crash. "But for me the problem is not Race Direction. It is Zarco. He is very fast, but he ar- rives often [in the corner] in delay. He must understand this is not Moto2. He must be more quiet." In Moto2, with everyone on similar bikes with the same engines, tires and brakes, overtaking was more difficult, he continued. But MotoGP is different. When is a wing not a wing? KTM appeared to be push- ing the boundaries, with the Austrian MotoGP newcomers' first aerodynamic fairing that made its debut in the second free practice session at COTA. Add-on wings were banned this year, and the established factories have shown various solutions with vaned ducting through the sides or top sec- tion of the fairing. KTM had been focused on other as- pects of their all-new V4 Mo- toGP racer, but at race three their own solution appeared. This had steeply angled not- wings either side of the air intake. Only the fact that they had a relatively thick base and that they are moulded into the fairing distinguished them from (admittedly narrow) add- on wings. According to Pol Espargaro's crew chief Paul Trevathan, the aim was both to reduce wheelies under ac- celeration "and to keep a load on the front." So far, he said, Briefly... cont. on page 72