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/972780
VOL. 55 ISSUE 16 APRIL 24, 2018 P69 Joe Roberts, the only U.S. rider in any class, finished 23rd, two places down on NTS team- mate Steven Odendaal. Class returnee Sam Lowes (SII KTM) had qualified second, but crashed on the first lap, remounting to finish out of the points. Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Kalex) had been heading the big group disputing fourth when he crashed heavily on lap with traction control," he explained. HAYDEN HILL The late Nicky Hayden has been im- mortalized by Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, with the renaming of turn 18 as "Hayden Hill." Turn 18 is a fast triple apex right hander in at the back of the pit complex, known for some tire frying slides as the riders plunge down to the penultimate left-hand corner at Circuit of the Americas. It is also famed for being the location of the gigantic tower that offers a bird's eye view of the entire facility. MARC VDS—SUZUKI? The Marc VDS team remained at the center of the rumor mill—with the independent team linked with a switch from Honda to Yamaha. Or possibly Suzuki. Or perhaps to stay with Ya- maha. Of the three, the smart money seems to be on becoming Suzuki's first satellite team, and in spite of deni- als from both Suzuki and team boss Michael Bartholemy, some believe a deal has already been struck. Yama- ha's interest is also acute, after losing their long-time satellite team partners Tech3 to KTM next year, while Honda is anxious to retain the squad. With Honda currently in hot pursuit of Johann Zarco for the factory Repsol team, other speculation continued about the second seat at Suzuki. Dani Pedrosa's name has been linked with the ride, to replace Andrea Iannone alongside Alex Rins, but Jorge Lo- renzo is also a possibility. MAMOLA: WELCOME TO THE CLUB Randy Mamola, the one-time "Clown Prince" of MotoGP, and co-founder and tireless charity worker for Riders for Health, became the 27th MotoGP Legend at COTA, in a ceremony both good-humored and tearful. Mamola is the first in the Hall of Fame never to have won a championship in any class. But on the other side he was not only a massively popular showman in his era, from 1979 to 1992, but also four times title runner up. With 13 wins in the 500 class Mamola far outranks previous U.S. inductees Kenny Roberts Jr. (eight wins) and Nicky Hayden (three). Other Legends, including modern- era fatalities Daijiro Kato and Marco Simoncelli, have zero premier-class wins, although winning titles in the smaller classes. WAR OF GODS The War of "the Gods," says Johann Zarco, showed no sign of a cease- fire as proceedings opened at COTA, with Rossi defiantly refusing to back down on his inflammatory attack on Marquez in the wake of the Argentine GP two weeks ago. After he'd been knocked out of the race when Mar- quez hit him on the slow penultimate corner, the Italian multi-champion accused the defending champion of habitual dangerous riding, deliber- ately colliding with rivals in a way that would cause them to crash. Now, asked if he had overstated the case, he was unrepentant. "Sincerely, I looked at the race [on TV] and I think exactly what I said after the race. I confirm all my words." KEEPING QUIET Marquez was docked 30 seconds and finished out of the points as a result, effectively a more severe pun- ishment than that to Rossi when he notoriously knocked Marquez off in Briefly... Jorge Martin confirmed his title favorite status with a dominant win in Moto3.