VOL. 54 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 29, 2017 P77
remaining. Dovi resumed the
lead, 183 points to Marquez's
174, with Vinales closing on his
compatriot with 170. Rossi has
157, Pedrosa 148.
If the race was close, the
championship even more so,
with a top four inside 26 points
setting new records and illumi-
nating the season with six races
past both of the Spaniards, and
skittled Petrucci. With one lap to
go, Espargaro (suffering a pain-
ful rib injury) retired.
This left younger brother Pol
Espargaro (Red Bull KTM) to
a lone 11th after dropping back
throughout. Worse followed,
when he crashed on the first
corner of the slow-down lap.
Tito Rabat (VDS Honda) was
12th, holding off a late attack
by Karel Abraham (Pull&Bear
Ducati); Hector Barbera (Avintia
Ducati) narrowly consigned his
team-mate Loris Baz to 15th on
the last lap.
A troubled Jack Miller was a
distant 16th, complaining of lost
rear grip; Bradley Smith (Red
Bull KTM) last. Fellow-Briton
Sam Lowes (Aprilia) crashed out
in the early stages.
chief Esteban Garcia. The action
could be a veiled threat to replace
Smith as well for next year, after
test rider Mika Kallio finished 10th
at Red Bull KTM's home race in
Austria, while Smith was 18th and
out of the points. Smith told press
at Silverstone that the decision had
come that same evening, with KTM
race project chief Pit Beirer making
it clear that they expected better
results from the English rider, who
has been carrying a bad hand injury
since round seven in Catalunya. The
race was another disappointment,
with Smith finishing 17th and last.
Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro was
battling serious pain and "rationing
my strength" after suffering rib inju-
ries in a go-kart crash after the Aus-
trian GP, and eventually it became
too much in the race, and he retired
from a position in the points. The
all-internal damage to ligaments and
soft tissue was very debilitating, he
said. "I have had other injuries in my
career, but none that have limited me
this much." The biggest problem was
the fast direction changes through
the to-and-fro swerves early in the
lap. He had qualified strongly all the
same, ninth fastest, at a track where
the bike's relative lack of acceleration
is less of a problem.
Another landmark for Valentino
Rossi: the British GP was his 300th
GP start in the premier class, his
360th altogether, extending the re-
cord he has held for some time. It is
a milestone also for Alvaro Bautista,
with start number 250. In between
the two, Andrea Dovizioso and
Dani Pedrosa will be making starts
number 270 and 271, respectively.
Jonas Folger missed the MotoGP
race after a massive crash at the end
of the Hangar Straight on his out
lap in morning warm-up. Although
stretchered away, the German Mon-
ster Yamaha rider was on his feet
soon afterwards, but was ruled unfit
and sent to hospital for a precaution-
ary CAT scan after complaining of
dizziness.
Johann Zarco put in a solid ride and almost cracked the top five.
