VOL. 54 ISSUE 16 APRIL 25, 2017 P69
hanging on to ninth.
Rossi's half-brother Luca Mari-
ni emerged on top in a fierce
battle for 10th, his Forward Kalex
barely one-hundredth ahead of
Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Kalex).
A perfect 75 gives Morbidelli a
strong early championship lead,
with Luthi (56) second, moving
away from Oliveira (43) and Na-
kagami (32). And Marquez (24)
closing on Vierge (25).
Oliveira ceded fifth on lap 13
running wide at the first corner,
and over the final laps he was
kept busy fending off a clos-
ing Simone Corsi (Speed Up),
with Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt
Suter) in turn right on the Italian's
back wheel.
Schrotter had eventually
outpaced yet another non-Kalex,
with Xavi Vierge's Tech 3 drop-
ping back by five seconds, but
Nakagami (Idemitsu Kalex) had
shaken off Miguel Oliveira's Red
Bull KTM, and was starting to
challenge Marquez. He finally
made it stick on lap 13, and by
the finish was also comfortably
clear for the last podium finish.
Oliveira now had the close
attention of Dominique Aegerter,
who had started from the sec-
ond row on the Kiefer Suter, in
the fight to be top non-Kalex.
