VOL. 54 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 31, 2017 P61
from the back of the grid.
Marquez took a flyer and led
into the first corner only to run
wide. This let Zarco into the
lead, and by the end of the lap
he was already 1.8 seconds
clear of Jorge Lorenzo's Ducati
with Marquez third and Dovi
heading Pedrosa close behind.
Zarco's lead lasted eight laps,
Lorenzo hunting him down by
a matter of tenths each time
around.
"He was really pushing," said
the Spaniard. "But I knew his
soft tire would drop and I was
saving my rear."
Zarco, in turn, wouldn't admit
that his tire choice had let him
third time this season. Six other
riders started on the soft: fellow
front-row starter Johann Zarco
(Monster Yamaha), as well as
independent Ducati riders Alvaro
Bautista, Scott Redding and
Loris Baz, plus both Red Bull
KTM riders Bradley Smith and
Pol Espargaro.
Wet specialist Danilo Petrucci
was, like all the rest, on medium
tires front and rear–but a me-
chanical failure on the sighting
lap meant he had to switch to his
second Octo Ducati and start
overtakes at Phillip Island. To-
day's race was, by comparison,
an austere parade, in very trying
conditions. But given the circum-
stance, hardly less absorbing.
Not least because of the tantaliz-
ing but disturbing prospect that
Ducati might have to issue team
orders to help Dovi. In the end,
they weren't required.
The tactics were changing
even on the grid, with a handful
of riders switching to Michelin's
soft rear wet tire, gambling that
with the rain having eased they
might be switching bikes before
the 20 laps were done. The
move was led by Dani Pedrosa
(Repsol Honda), on pole for the
Dovizioso leads the way on a
slick Sepang circuit.
