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/891001
IN THE WIND P38 IRONMAN MILLER BREAKS ROSSI'S RECORD A ustralian Jack Miller shaved two days off Rossi's crash-to- race broken leg record at Phillip Island, getting back out on his VDS Honda RC213V exactly 21 days after breaking his right tibia in a low-speed trials accident at his European base in Andorra. The fracture was promptly plated and screwed, and Miller opted out of the Japanese GP last weekend to give himself more time to recuperate for his home GP. Miller, walking with no visible limp, admitted, "I even surprised myself with the speed of the turnaround. I probably could have made it to Japan, but it wouldn't have been good for this race and Malaysia, with the swelling." Unlike Rossi, he hadn't ridden a bike before the race, except for a cheesy Dorna pre-race publicity stunt in Melbourne the day before, but he had tested his leg at home in Townsville on a quad bike, with no problems beyond "losing my phone." On the first day of free prac- tice, he was on the charge and placed a strong sixth. The next day he qualified fifth. His best qualifying hitherto this year was tenth. Then on race day he lived the Aussie dream leading for the first four laps. He finished seventh after his early run left him short of drive at the end, but was still less than six seconds behind the winner. Michael Scott Jack Miller proved it would take more than a broken leg to stop a stellar home GP performance. VAN DER MARK WILL GET HIS MOTOGP SHOT D utchman WorldSBK podium finisher Michael van der Mark will have his first MotoGP ride at next week's Malaysian GP, taking the absent Jonas Folger's seat on the independent Monster Yamaha. The long-expected move was confirmed on Sunday evening in Australia, in a statement from the France-based team. It is some compensation for Van der Mark's disappointment at the Aragon GP, where he was enlisted to ride Valentino Rossi's factory Yamaha, only to be left in the sidelines when Rossi returned. "It goes without saying that I am really excited," said van der Mark. "I came quite close a few weeks ago, but it didn't work out. Then Hervé called, and although I will have a busy schedule, I could not say no to this chance." Van der Mark knows the Sepang circuit from WorldSBK, but explained, "the MotoGP riders have done a lot of tests there this year, so everyone will be fast. I just want to enjoy this weekend, to improve myself and see how it is to ride the YZR-M1." German Jonas Folger is ex- pected to be out for the rest of the season after succumbing to a suspected virus that left him pro- gressively weakened until he was forced to withdraw on the eve of last weekend's Japanese GP. Folger is thought to be suf- fering a repeat infection of the Epstein-Barr virus, for which the main treatment is simply pro- longed rest. As a result, he is likely to be out until the first tests next year. Experienced Australian veteran Broc Parkes took his place at Phillip Island, with Van der Mark unavailable due to the penulti- mate WorldSBK round at Jerez. There has been no confirma- tion, but Van der Mark will be available again for the final round in Valencia if necessary, one week after his final WorldSBK race at Qatar. Michael Scott