Lorenzo and Ducati got lucky with his front end folding and letting Dovi by as it of course does help them both save a little face BUT, lets be honest, he was going to let Dovi by regardless. Pre-text message from the Bologna boys he was 1.1seconds clear of Dovi, and held that like clockwork for 5 laps prior and then after the text to go to "setting 8" he magically drops 0.3 and 0.4 per lap the next 2 to have Dovi only 0.4 behind with 5 laps to go. Then, as we all saw, he had a legit moment and then all he had to do was secure 2nd place and not pressure Dovi - quite possibly knowing Lorenzo he was done anyways as he had the bad habit of fading and once the front gives him warnings he typically backs off more than most. All said and done, great race to set up some actual drama for Valencia. It's Spain, Marc has finished 2nd there the past 2 years I think, and Andrea well back in like 7th the past couple years. However, Dovi has done a LOT this year that nobody predicted so hopefully it's at least a clean finish to the year with no bullshit. At this point, both riders left fighting are deserving IMO. Marc had an engine let go this year costing him a LOT of points or things would have already been decided, yet Dovi has 6 wins and 3 of those battling like no one would have thought he had it in him.
Ha Ha you suck YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I'm calling that a win for good ole Lorenzo. We all know had the 2nd place rider been anyone other than Dovi, JL would have won that race. Did you guys even see how masterfully he caused the front end slide and recovery just so it didn't look like F1 when he allowed Dovi by? That 99 boy has skills to rival MM. I'm betting he's been saving those new skills for just this type of scenario. Man I can't wait for 2018. I think JL has this thing figured out and with another off season for Ducati to improve the bike he's the odds on favorite for next year.
T3 is potentially a bit more creative than the Factory team and may actually be able to figure out how to make that thing a bit better in the wet conditions. When you have someone in the team that builds a 300cc 22,000 rpm 6 cylinder motorcycle just for fun, you know you have some seriously creative people. I think I actually read somewhere that he wouldn't want to work for a factory team because they would make him do everything per how the factory tells him to do it. Add to that the good feedback that the Frenchman provides and I wouldn't count them out of making the '17 not capable of winning, but at least decent. Speaking of slow in the wet, Crashlow who is usually fast in the wet and he was 50 seconds back in 15th place. I just read he is blaming a bad rear tire, I suppose that can happen, as they are hand made, but as far off as he was why not pit for a bike change, particularly since he "knew" it was bad on the warm up lap. Shoot, pull into pit lane, hop on the backup bike and start from pit lane.
He has blamed everything and everyone for everything gone wrong his whole career.... This is why I have Zero respect for him.... That and the Biased announcers every friggin weekend...
Only if Marc crashes out of Valencia.... And to the people who think he faked that moment to let him by, I have one question. What's your brand Elmers, or Testors? The guy who's MO his entire racing career has been smooth, wheels in line metronome like consistency decides he's suddenly going to tuck the front and save it with his knee. Just to let his teammate by. Ha ha, tha's funny shit right there.
Zarco said in the post race interview that they won't go on the 17 chassis if they can stick with the 16. bottom line is Yamaha wants winners, no matter what chassis ./.
It's a lose/lose either way. He lets Dovi pass for the win, and MM crashes at Valencia giving Dovi the title, Dovi wins because of team orders. He doesn't let Dovi pass, and Marquez takes the title in Sepang, JLO is an asshole for not playing team orders. Neither scenario grants the title to Dovi on his merits alone. Plus it will somehow justify in the minds of the Uccios that MM and JLO conspired against against Rossi in 2015. The deciding factor in the title hunt for Dovi was made when he blew his brake marker at turn one at Phillip Island, allowing the leaders t0 totally escape. I really wanted Dovi to win.
Lorentho gets that Duc figured out a little bit more in 2018 and he could reel off 5-6 wins in a row. It will be interesting to see what that unibrow Team Boss comes up with.