Cycle News

MOTOGP 2017 FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 14 / SEPTEMBER 22-24, 2017 CIUDAD DEL MOTOR DE ARAGON / ALCAINZ, SPAIN P52 down the straight, but Marquez cut inside again through the last corners, and once he was past, he could maintain a narrow advantage. It might have been different had Lorenzo not chosen the soft rear in the warmer conditions, but, "I'd tried the medium in practice and I couldn't use it at all," he said. "I was two seconds slower." In any case, he was de- lighted with his second podium and a clear step forward. Dovizioso was now dropping away, at a track he knew would be difficult; while the chasing group that had piled up behind Vinales—six-strong at half dis- tance—would start to break up after Pedrosa finally got ahead on lap 13. The Honda quickly closed the gap, setting fastest lap on the 19th. Pedrosa complained after- wards that Rossi had almost put him on the grass as he came past on the straight, but didn't hang around to argue about it. He closed rapidly on the lead- ing pair, and past Lorenzo with three laps to go. He was less than a second behind Marquez over the line—Lorenzo just over a second behind him. Vinales had followed, but was troubled by problems with his hard rear tire, and took three more laps to get ahead of Dovizioso and Rossi, with his teammate following him past the flag just half a second behind. Dovizioso was now struggling, and succumbed to Aleix Es- Cal Crutchlow was riding a second race with his left index finger point- ing straight forward in a cast, as he recovers from severing a tendon in a cheese-cutting mishap before the last race at Misano. And the injury led directly to a race mishap. Riding slipstream in a big pack, his front brake started overheating. Nor- mally he would give it some slack by reaching across and adjusting the le- ver, but the injury meant he couldn't do that. "With the lever very far away, I grabbed the brake and locked the front, and ran wide," he said. Moto3 fast guy Jorge Martin is the latest to suffer injury away from the track while training, although fortu- nately without lasting effects. After a road accident following the Misano round, the Spaniard was taken to hospital, though not admitted, "A car hit me while I was riding my bicycle," he said. The paddock was filled with the sound of dominoes falling into place, as the last vacant MotoGP berth was filled, and the knock-on effect filtered down to Moto2 and beyond. The 24th rider to be confirmed was, as long expected, Xavier Simeon, who takes the second seat at Avintia Ducati, alongside Tito Rabat. The decision had been flagged up but was still somewhat surprising, given the stature of the rider. The Bel- gian, first from that country in the premier class since late-1980s star Didier de Radigues, is fresh from a lackluster Moto2 season, with seventh at Assen his only top 10 out of just five finishes in the points. In seven years in Moto2, Simeon has a single win (Germany, 2015), and four other podium finishes. This ends the hopes of French Avintia rider Loris Baz, who has now set his sights on a return to World Superbikes. Cur- rent teammate Hector Barbera will move back to the intermediate class that he left when it still ran 250 two- strokes, on which he achieved four race wins. Barbera will join Italian Lorenzo Baldassarri in Sito Pons's HP40 team. In more Moto2 contract news, Remy Gardner has had his contract with the Tech3 team renewed for a second season. The son of 1987 500 champion Wayne Gardner has had a difficult first season with the team after suffering a badly broken ankle in round two, through no fault of his own. Over in the Italian camp, Rossi's half-brother Luca Marini is to join the SKY VR46 team along- side Pecco Bagnaia. He displaces Stefano Manzi, who will simply take Marini's place on the Forward Kalex. Misano winner Dominique Aegerter confirmed he will stay on a Suter for the Kiefer Racing team, while current Pons-Kalex rider Fabio Quartararo is earmarked for a switch to Speed Up. Suzuki's MotoGP riders Andrea Ian- none and Alex Rins reverted to the "standard" chassis at Aragon, after plans to test revised equipment after the last race at Misano were thwart- ed by bad weather. "We had a lot of things to test, but in the end it was wet, and only Sylvain Guintoli rode," said team boss Davide Brivio. The Ecstar-backed factory team shifted the test until after the Aragon race. "We will stay on and test on Tuesday and Wednesday," said Brivio. Briefly...

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