MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 17 / OCTOBER 29, 2017
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / SEPANG, MALAYSIA
P62
than a second behind Lorenzo,
but closer by the time he fol-
lowed him past Zarco, a couple
of corners later. But while he
did gradually close, it was by no
means certain that he would be
able to get past.
As the laps counted down,
the tension was high. Lorenzo
had the chance of a first win
on a Ducati but would take five
Marquez for three laps, "…taking
time to come smooth. Fortu-
nately, there was nobody push-
ing me."
His first attack was promptly
repulsed, but on lap five he got
ahead for keeps. He was more
down. In the wet on Friday he'd
been off the pace, and that had
forced him onto the soft. "I was
thinking I could win, and when
he caught me, that maybe I
could fight. But I was losing a lot
in acceleration."
Early on, the front four had
escaped on a track left treacher-
ously slippery by rubber from
the earlier races. Dovi followed
Johann Zarco put in a stellar
ride and finished out the day
on the podium.
