On Track off Road

The fi rst third of the Malaysian Grand Prix
produced as action as good as you’ll see this year.
In truth Lorenzo was doing a good job of holding
up the Hondas but the four-way chase was riveting
stuff for a while, until Pedrosa found a way to
escape and Marquez turned it down ‘from 11 to 9’
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The next four laps were as intense as any in
MotoGP this year, as Lorenzo rebuffed attempt
after attempt from the youngster. At one point
Marquez made it happen only for Lorenzo to
shoulder barge his way back in front in the
following corner. The fact that afterwards he
denied knowledge of any contact suggests that
he knows only too well that it was the kind of
move you would expect from Marquez, rather
than someone who had long since repented his
youthful aggression.
Whilst Lorenzo was critical of the manoeuvre
that fi nally allowed Marquez to assume second
place, it was completely above board with the
youngster taking an inside line on entry to the
back straight, and forcing Lorenzo to roll off
as he was squeezed towards the edge of the
track. With his lead in the championship ready
to be extended to 43 over Lorenzo, Marquez’s
attempts to chase down his team-mate were
limited by his unwillingness to take unnecessary
risks, and eventually he rolled home into second
place, nearly three seconds behind Pedrosa.
The warmer conditions of race-day began to
take their toll on the notoriously cool-weatherloving
Yamaha and Lorenzo slipped far behind
Marquez to third, with Rossi a lonely fourth.
Behind Cal Crutchlow fought bravely to keep Alvaro
Bautista at bay, but the superior top speed
of the Spaniard’s Honda meant that he would
take fi fth ahead of the Briton.
The rest of the fi eld was entirely split up, with
the Bautista-Crutchlow battle being the only tussle
of interest left but the Marquez-Lorenzo duel
had already lit up the entire event.
Pedrosa’s win may ultimately prove inconsequential
now that he lies 54 points behind
Marquez with three rounds remaining, but it is
just the shot in the arm the beleaguered Catalan
needed. The question now is if he can harness
the anger that spurred him on to greatness
yesterday, and bring the fi ght to the youngster
over the tail end of the season, and then on into
2014 when he will mount what could be his last
real chance for an assault on the crown that has
eluded him for so long.