VOL. 55 ISSUE 18 MAY 8, 2018 P101
from Red Bull KTM teammate Brad Bind-
er, who would continue to lose ground.
Oliveira was just over a tenth of a sec-
ond adrift on lap eight; but Baldassarri,
who had already set the only new lap
record of the day, kicked again, and by
lap 14 he was a full second clear.
There was nobody threatening the KTM
CHANGE IN APPROACH
KTM's strong early challenge at Jerez—
with Pol Espargaro setting third-fastest
time in the first free practice—reflected
a temporary change in approach for the
Austrian manufacturer. With test rider
Mika Kallio taking a wildcard ride on the
2019 prototype Red Bull KTM, Motors-
ports Director Pit Beirer explained this
had freed up the regular riders to con-
centrate on racing rather than develop-
ment. Normally, he explained, Espargaro
and teammate Bradley Smith would have
a lot of different parts to test at each
race. This affected their performance,
especially in the early sessions. "This
weekend we decided that they should
concentrate on race setup from the be-
ginning. It's nice to see, and it looks like
we can be competitive," he said.
JEREZ-ANGEL NIETO
Fully resurfaced, the now classic Jerez
circuit was also renamed "Jerez-Angel
Nieto" in honor of the late 13-time World
Champion who died after a road ac-
cident last year. A bronze statue of the
great Spanish hero was unveiled, and
on race day, to a rapturous reception,
two of his old racing bikes completed
a lap of the circuit. One was a 50cc
Garelli, the other a 125cc Derbi. In
another quirky kick, the 68,000-strong
crowd were encouraged to cheer the
13th lap of every race, in honour of
Nieto's 13 World Championships.
have the pace and we need to work."
Miller said he'd destroyed his front
tire, regaining places lost off a bad start
from the fourth row.
The championship positions shuffled
a bit, Marquez taking the lead on 70,
then Zarco (58), Vinales (50), Iannone
(47) and Dovizioso (46).
Moto2
Pole qualifier Lorenzo Baldassarri
(HP40 Kalex) took a second career win
at Jerez in what had already become
another processional Moto2 race when
home hero and 2017 winner Alex Mar-
quez (EG-VDS Kalex) crashed out of
third place on the 11th of 23 laps.
Marquez had led the first two laps,
then Baldassarri took control and
pulled steadily clear to win by almost
three seconds.
"It's been an amazing weekend," Bal-
dassarri said. "Congratulations to the
team, and to me, too. We did a great
job. It's nice, nice to be back."
He did have to resist some pressure
after some shuffling in the early stages
saw Miguel Oliveira making a blazing
start from 14th on the grid. On lap five,
the Portuguese rider took over second
Jack Miller (43)
had a rough
start but pushed
through to fight
for the podium,
eventually
finishing fifth.
