Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4 / MAY 4-6, 2018 JEREZ-ANGEL NIETO / JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN P98 than three seconds adrift, and believing he could catch the group and fight for the podium, after losing places in the early laps. "Then I could not believe when I saw all those bikes were down. You need some luck sometimes. When the chance comes to you, you must catch it." Early on, he'd had a big slide and dropped to seventh, behind Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki). But Rins lasted only one more lap before crashing, his third in four races. Second Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone was now in pursuit of Zarco, but by half distance the gap was two seconds and stretching, and the Italian needed to pay more attention to those pursuing him. Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Ducati) had caught and passed fast-starting Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) and now second Pramac rider Jack Miller was catching them both, and the trio closing on Iannone for what would become the last rostrum position. With five laps to go, Petrucci took the Suzuki at the same time Miller took Rossi, and the four stayed locked together to the finish, by then Iannone had got back ahead of Petrucci, and Rossi of Miller. Petrucci's plan was to re-pass him on the last lap, but "he had something more than me on traction." Rossi simply said, "We were lucky for sixth…we didn't iii My Own Race: 93 MARC MARQUEZ 1ST MOTOGP "The key was the rear-tire choice," Marc Marquez said. "We made the decision after the warm-up to go with the medium, and that was the right move. Then I was able to take the lead at the right moment and push when I had the chance. I also had a big moment when I hit some dirt on the track. When I realized that the asphalt was covered in gravel, it was already too late. I closed the gas, but I had a huge slide! Let's say it was a bit of a 'Marquez style' show!" 26 DANI PEDROSA DNF MOTOGP "I have a lot of pain in my right hip, which is very swollen at the moment," Dani Pedrosa said of his race crash. "I was just sticking to Dovi and Jorge, trying to see if I could conserve my tires and improve my pace at the end of the race, or if they would make a mistake. Finally they did, and they both went very wide. I kept the regular inside line, and the next thing I felt was a big hit, and I suffered a heavy high-side. Unfortunately, it ended up with the three of us crashing. I'm very sad and disappointed for all of us." 29 ANDREA IANNONE 3RD MOTOGP "I'm really happy about this podium, it's the second podium in a row for me and the third po- dium in a row for Suzuki, and for sure it's a positive moment for us and the feeling with the bike is good so I'm very happy," Andrea Iannone said. "The only regret I have is for the tire choice: we went to the grid with the medium, then once there we decided to go for the hard and finally this might not have been the best choice. We've been very fast the whole weekend with the medium, so maybe we could have been even more competitive with that." 04 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO DNF MOTOGP "What a pity! On the one hand I'm happy with the feeling that I had with the bike, my speed and how I managed the race. To start from behind and make up places here at Jerez, lapping almost at the same pace as Marquez who then won the race, is truly a great satisfaction," Andrea Dovizioso said. "About the incident, I braked right on the limit because I had been try- ing to pass Jorge for a few laps. I went wide and made Jorge go wide a bit as well, Dani saw an opening and jumped in too quickly and in the end, bad luck would have it that when they came together they also took me down with them."