MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHP
ROUND 10 / AUGUST 4-6, 2017
BRNO CIRCUIT / OSTROVACICE, CZECH REPUBLIC
P50
W
hen does guess-
work become
genius? When does
the opposite happen? In both
cases, it often involves Marc
Marquez.
The Repsol Honda rider,
moved by a minute of silence
for late Spanish racing legend
Angel Nieto before the start,
decided it was a day to take
risks. Or, if you prefer, to use
guesswork.
The first went wrong, with
a last-minute switch to a soft
rear rain tire, when everybody
else (except for chancer
Hector Barbera) was on the
medium. Marquez surged off
pole and into the lead, but
had lost it by the end of the
lap, with major wheelspin
problems causing him to lose
place after place.
This triggered the second
risk—at the end of lap two,
he dived into the pits to swap
to a bike on dry tires. It was
debatable whether the track
was quite dry enough, how
quickly it would dry, or even
whether it might not start to
sprinkle again. But this was a
Marc Marquez and Repsol Honda made
the rest of the MotoGP field look silly in
changeable conditions at Brno to open up a
sizeable lead in the championship
Tactical Masterstroke
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
Marc Marquez was all on
his own after five laps. It
was a stunning ride.
