Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/887961
VOL. 54 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 17, 2017 P79 My Own Race: 04 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 1ST MOTOGP "It was a difficult race because at the start there wasn't much grip and I didn't have a good feeling with the bike, but I never gave up, not even when I was losing ground, and this made all the difference," said winner Andrea Dovizioso. "Marc was really quick and he tried right until the end, but there were some places where I could attack and he also made a small mistake on the last lap which gave me a chance to catch him again and try and pass him at Turn 11. I knew that he was going to attack me in the final two corners but I was prepared for this. I closed the door on him and he had to go a bit wide to pass me. It was absolutely vital to win here." 93 MARC MARQUEZ 2ND MOTOGP "Of course I tried and gave it my 100%, fighting until the last lap and the last corner," said Marc Marquez. "It was an amazing race with the two guys fighting for the cham- pionship, fighting for the win. Today there was a lot of water on track and for some reason I was struggling a little more than expected. I tried to push and be smooth, but Andrea was very fast, too, for the entire race. Entering the last lap, I knew I had only a very small advantage ahead but then I made a small mistake in turn eight, well, quite a big mistake actually, and he caught me. After he passed he was very strong on the brakes and I wasn't able to match him. In the last corner I tried again but it was not possible to pass him again. Today he did an incredible race and won but anyway I'm happy with our result as I was expecting him to be very, very fast here." 99 JORGE LORENZO 6TH MOTOGP "I can't be happy with my race, because we had the potential to try and win if there hadn't been so much water on the track," said Jorge Lorenzo. "We weren't able to find the right setting to be quick in these conditions and without rear grip it was impossible for me to do anything more. I gradually succeeded in getting a better feeling with the bike, and I improved my pace and was able to pass Vinales, Zarco and Aleix Espargaro. In the end, we were missing almost a second per lap today, and that's a pity because this week- end we were always fast." 25 MAVERICK VINALEZ 9TH MOTOGP "I expected things to be a little bit worse, because this morning I was trying to be in the top 15," said Mavrick Vinalez. "Finally, in the race, I pushed a lot in the beginning. I tried to risk only the necessary, trying to give our best. To- day this was the maximum and we will have to think now about Australia. Until all the points are collected it is impossible to know if there is still a chance to win the championship. For sure we we'll face different circumstances in Australia. It will be a different bike and different tires, we don't know what we're going to have there, but it's a track I like a lot, I like to ride there, so I can't wait to be on the bike again. 46 VALENTINO ROSSI 23RD MOTOGP "Today was the end of a very difficult weekend," said Valintino Rossi. "Be- cause of the wet conditions I was not very competitive, I was struggling a lot with the wet setting of the bike. In the race I was trying to follow Aleix Espar- garo and I was trying to stick with him, but unfortunately I crashed. Now we'll try to do some good races and it will be important during the next weekends to give Yamaha as much information as possible to improve the bike and to decide on the direction for next year."