MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHP
ROUND 10 / AUGUST 4-6, 2017
BRNO CIRCUIT / OSTROVACICE, CZECH REPUBLIC
P54
Maverick Vinales (Movistar
Yamaha), Cal Crutchlow (LCR
Honda), Rins, Pedrosa, Baz
(Avintia Ducati), Bautista (Pull
& Bear Ducati) and Tito Rabat
(Marc VDS Honda).
But Valentino Rossi also wait-
ed until lap five (when Barbera
called in for a second time); and
Johan Zarco (Monster Energy
Yamaha) waited until lap six, and
was now miles behind, because
riders on slicks were lapping
much better than 10 seconds
faster.
of a strong debut for the new
aero-body Duke with its box-kite
addendums.
Dovi stayed out for five laps,
rather too long, waiting for his
bike to be prepared.
He was however not the only
one to lose time by delaying the
switch.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull
KTM), Jack Miller (Marc VDS
Honda) and Bradley Smith (KTM)
had stopped on lap two behind
Marquez; Redding (Pramac
Ducati), Aleix Espargaro, Karel
Abraham (Pull & Bear Ducati),
Iannone, Barbera, Lowes
(Aprilia) and Folger (again) on lap
three; and on lap four Lorenzo,
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati),
his team was badly hurt, but he
was knocked about, and lost a
lot of time.
It could be a valuable lesson
for teams to tighten up their
rider-release practices closer
to F1 standards. As it was, the
Aprilia team was blamed, and
Espargaro punished by having to
drop three places.
Ducati's factory team was also
in a muddle. Neither of the spare
bikes for Andrea Dovizioso nor
Jorge Lorenzo was set up for the
dry. Lorenzo took the lead from
Marquez on lap one and stayed
there for three laps. Then he
called in, and had to wait while
the crew completed the set-up
process, spoiling all his chances
The Ducati's new aero
package left some people
scratching their heads.
