VOL. 55 ISSUE 24 JUNE 19, 2018 P71
powered past by the end of the
front straight, and Dovizioso then
Rossi followed on to consign the
Suzuki of Iannone to fifth.
The first three soon pulled
clear, with Dovi a second ahead
of Rossi by lap six. Three laps
later, however, shaking his head
in bafflement as at Le Mans, he
crashed out under brakes.
By now, wildcards Mika Kal-
lio (KTM) and Sylvain Guintoli
(Suzuki), as well as Tom Luthi
(Honda), Xavier Simeon (Ducati)
and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) had
already crashed out, finding the
grippy surface treacherous when
the grip ran out. Soon after-
wards Alex Rins (Suzuki) retired,
from the back of the field.
The front three didn't change
and Marquez didn't give up
far," he said. "The good news
is there are many races, so it is
possible. But very, very difficult.
The other good thing is we don't
have pressure." And, he added,
"This is the most balanced
Ducati ever."
Marquez had an answer.
"I like the pressure. I perform
better, concentrate better, when
there is pressure." And his own
bike was good. "This year, when
we are bad, we can still be on
the podium, and when we are
good, we can win."
There was drama from the start.
Andrea Iannone (Ecstar Su-
zuki) blazed away and even led
for a couple of corners before
running wide at the end of the
back straight; but it was Mar-
quez heading lap one. Lorenzo
never to look back."
It came on soft tires front and
rear; while closest rival Marquez
was one of only two riders (the
other being Morbidelli) to choose
the hard compound both ends.
"For our bike, soft tires work
well, but I had to save them, be
very smooth on the throttle and
with my line, because I knew
Marc was different, and that
could be an advantage," Lo-
renzo said.
Marquez felt the same. "I tried
to keep pushing to see if Jorge's
tires would drop, but then we both
dropped the same way," he said.
The result meant Lorenzo
claimed back five points on
Marquez, but he is still 49 points
behind.
"The bad news is we are very
