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
VOL. 54 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 24, 2017 P67 dry, and everyone switched to slicks on the grid. Jorge Martin (Del Conca Honda) was on pole number eight, from Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA KTM). But Joan Mir completed the front row on the Leopard Honda and had his eyes on the prize. His last remaining rival, Romano Fenati (Rivacold Honda) was in the middle of row two, and had his eyes on Mir. Now followed a breathtak- ing bout of hand-to-hand combat, with a huge gang exchanging positions con- stantly. Not among them, fan- cied runners John McPhee (BTT Honda), who crashed out on the second corner; Niccolo Antonelli (Red Bull KTM), out on lap two; Aron Canet (EG Honda) or Fabio di Giannantonio (Del Conca Honda), both falling on lap five. With 23 laps scheduled, by half distance the lead group was eight-strong, the first seven within just over eight tenths. Early leader Juanfran Guevara (RBA KTM) had fallen and remounted miles behind; by now Mir led. Behind him, Enea Bas- tianini (EG Honda), Rodrigo, Livio Loi (Leopard Honda), Fenati, Martin and rookie Ayumu Sasaki (SIC Honda), Adam Norrodin (SIC Honda) a couple of tenths adrift. Now Mir managed to eke out the smallest of advan- Moto2 win, but a one-two for the steel-tube-framed orange bikes, with Binder adding fastest lap right at the end. Raffin got the better of Vierge on the last lap for a career-best fourth; a few seconds back Alex Marquez (VDS Kalex) recovered from an early scare to prevail over a six-strong scramble, from Simone Corsi (Speed Up), Aegerter, Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Suter), Luthi and Axel Pons (RW Kalex), sixth to 11th covered by a mere 0.846 of a second. Pecco Bagnaia (SKY VR46 Kalex) had dropped back from this group in 12th; teammate Stefano Manzi eventually outran Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Kalex) for 13th; home rider Remy Gardner (Tech3) narrowly prevailed for the final point after a long battle with Hafizh Syarin (Petronas Kalex) and late-comer Augusto Fernan- dez (Speed Up). The championship is not quite done, with Mor- bidelli's advantage over Luthi stretched to 29 points, 272:243. Oliveira moved up to third on 191 to Marquez's 190, with Bagnaia on 150. MOTO3 The first race after a sodden warm-up, almost all the riders came out on wet tires. But with sun on the fast-drying track, the race was declared The MotoGP race at next year's Austra- lian GP could take place an hour earlier, if a repeat of an already standing request via the Safety Commission does not again fall on deaf ears. The race now starts at 4 p.m., in order to make it at least slightly friendlier to European TV schedules. The drawback is that soon after that there is frequently a sharp temperature drop, which has been blamed for a number of race-changing accidents over recent years as the surface grip falls away. One victim: Marc Marquez, who has twice fallen out of the lead, but many others have suffered similarly. Speaking at the post-qualifying press conference, Mar- quez said: "It should be a minimum of one hour earlier, because the temperature is dropping a lot." Compatriot Maverick Vinales concurred, saying: "All the riders agreed. It would be better for safety." Moto2 rider Marcel Schrotter credited a new Suter chassis for his career-best sec- ond-place qualification, because of better stability in corner entry. But the German was battling another problem—persistent pain from the wrist fracture that ruled him out of several races after the summer break. Schrotter broke the scaphoid bone while on a training ride with Jack Miller in Australia during the summer break; and while he didn't let it stop him riding in the Suzuka 8 Hours, that was enough to leave him in more serious trouble. Further restrictions in MotoGP testing— aimed at cutting the advantage of big- budget factory teams—were announced on the eve of the Australian GP, with the number of tests and their timing restricted more than at present from the 2019 season. The news came after a Motegi meeting of the GP Commission. Although next season's testing schedule is similar to this year's, with two days at Valencia after the final round, three three-day tests out Briefly...